[November 18, 2026, 6:00 – 8:00 PM] at Printed Matter, 231 11th Avenue New York, NY 10001.
Join us to celebrate Back to the Present: 50 Years of Free Expression with Franklin Furnace, with book editor and Franklin Furnace founder Martha Wilson (Princeton Architectural Press), an evening of readings, cake, Martha Wilson Trivia, and more!
A 50th-anniversary celebration of the legendary Franklin Furnace, an arts organization that emerged from the same Downtown ethos as Printed Matter. This visually rich volume captures five decades of boundary-breaking art and the ongoing fight to defend creative freedom. In addition to addressing the inspirational history of Franklin Furnace and her own experiences during the early culture wars of the 1980s and 90s, Martha will also give out prizes to audience members who answer the MARTHA WILSON TRIVIA questions correctly (or cleverly!) throughout the night.
In 1976, at a time when experimental art struggled to find institutional support, artist Martha Wilson founded Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc. in downtown Manhattan. What began as an artist-run space devoted to serving emerging artists and their overlooked work quickly became one of the most vital platforms for avant-garde art in the United States.
This landmark volume traces Franklin Furnace’s extraordinary impact—from the gritty energy of the downtown ‘70s art scene through the culture wars of the ’80s and ’90s and into today’s renewed debates around censorship, free speech, and artistic freedom.
Both an archive and a call to action, Back to the Present documents how artists challenged institutional norms, defended First Amendment rights, and insisted on the power of art as a tool for social change.
