14 Images of Phil America's Colors of Progress for LGBTQ Rights

Colors of Progress by Phil America

Artist Phil America's latest work, Colors of Progress, features 50 flags, color-coded to highlight a diverse set of LGBTQ communities, including people living with HIV or AIDS, transgender people, and people of color. This is another in a long line of work created by Phil America involving flags, including Bright Stars, in which he hung flags on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Perilous Fight, in which he hung flags in an abandoned subway New York subway station. For Phil America, flags are an inherently charged object, and he wishes to capture and subvert this energy. The project is produced by Tre Borden of Tre Borden Co., who has previously produced groundbreaking public artworks, including Beacon and Portal.

The artwork presents a "visual oral history," featuring quotes from LGBTQ people, including activists and icons from the past and present. To source the quotes, the project team dug through the University of Southern California's One LGBT Archives and Yale University's Larry Kramer Archives, scanned social and digital media, and invited LGBTQ individuals to share their feelings. In addition to the six colors in the traditional Pride rainbow, the project features five more colors (black, brown, pink, light blue, and white) to signal a more inclusive approach to LGBTQ activism.

"It was very important to us during this historic moment for LGBT+ people to center those who have been marginalized and who really need our full attention," said Borden. The team assigned each color to a community they wanted to highlight through the project.

"By featuring the words and experiences of LGBT+ people from a broad and diverse spectrum we are hoping to present the public with a real look at what it means to be LGBT+ today and what history brought us here," said America.

The project has appeared in front of the California State Capitol, at the Santa Monica Promenade, outside the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, inside the California governor's mansion, and at LA Pride. It will appear at World Pride in New York City next Sunday

See images of the traveling project below. And learn more at ColorsOfProgress.com.

Santa Monica Promenade

Sacramento State Capitol

Sacramento State Capitol

Sacramento State Capitol

California Governor's Mansion

Los Angeles Athletic Club Pride Celebration

California Governor Gavin Newsom's Office

LA Pride

Santa Monica Promenade

LA Pride

Los Angeles Athletic Club Pride Celebration

Sacramento State Capitol

Sacramento State Capitol