"Let Facts be Submitted to a Candid World" Gallery Exhibit in November

At Frederick Book Arts Center

Opens November 7th

“Let Facts be Submitted to a Candid World” 

FBAC's Altered Declaration Project will be the 2nd of 3 exhibits opening on November 7th focusing on civic engagement in the arts. Declarations were submitted by members of the FBAC community.

This past June, the Frederick Book Arts Center embarked on one of our biggest community-based projects to date: We printed 500 facsimile copies of the Dunlap Broadside of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson’s words from 250 years ago were printed on our Vandercook 219 press and disseminated freely throughout Frederick County. The note of the back of each copy implores people to read it carefully.

The Declaration of Independence is a living and dynamic document; its truths about the dangers of tyranny and despotism still ring true 250 years later. However, it is no longer the King of Great Britain threatening our freedoms in 2026, it’s those who have amassed outsized wealth, power, and immunity from the law. 

Artists in our community have taken a copy of the Declaration and altered it to express their thoughts and feelings about the current state of democracy in the United States. Some of the re-imagined documents are sharp and direct, some are whimsical and playful. Some can best be described as mournful about what has been lost, while others are strident about envisioning a future free from hate and division, a future in which equality and justice are more than empty words. America was founded by active dissent, and dissent remains a crucial tool in achieving a society that is more equal, more free, and more accepting of our differences.