Critical Distance DIRECTORY Vera List Center for Art and Politics

The Vera List Center for Art and Politics (VLC) at The New School is a leading research hub dedicated to politically engaged art. Alongside its public programs, fellowships, and Jane Lombard Prize, the Center’s publishing arm plays a key role in shaping the field, producing books, journals, and artist-driven research that respond to and nurture a thriving field of politically engaged art practices throughout the world.

Founded in 1992 during intense debates around free speech, identity, and the role of the arts, the VLC has consistently framed the arts as essential to civic life. Its publishing initiatives extend this mission by circulating critical scholarship, dialogues, and research emerging from VLC Seminars, exhibitions, and long-term commissions. These works trace the evolving intersections of art and politics, amplifying practices that advance social justice and expand the possibilities of public culture.