The mission of the artists’ collective PAD/D or Political Art Documentation and Distribution (1980-1986) was, according to its first newsletter, “to provide artists with an organized relationship to society, to demonstrate the political effectiveness of image making, and to provide a framework within which progressive artists can discuss and develop alternatives to the mainstream art system.’ During its short existence the group published a newsletter, organized monthly public programs, networked with other political activists and artists’ groups, created art for demonstrations, and developed an archive of social and political art that is now located at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. See my essay A Collectography of PAD/D in writings and see: www.moma.org/research/library.

For a complete archive of PAD/D newsletters click here

This website and its content is made available for educational, scholarly, and communal purposes. Likewise, all illustrations are included here solely for educational purposes. You are free to copy and distribute its content, but never for commercial profit. Please attribute the author whenever quoted or cited.