Dumb hick conservatives find new way to fight liberals

Frances Byrd

Frances Byrd is a bold culture warrior, but she is also very annoyed.

A conservative painter, Byrd is declaring war back at a society hostile to almost everything she values. This includes independent thought and expression, patriotism and the U.S. Constitution – for a start.

Working in the smaller, more rarefied circles of the arts, Bryd had a sad revelation: most of the modern art world is closed-minded and self-referential, censoring and horrifically smug. Conservative artists like Byrd are possibly the only ones to really perceive this, because they are its only targets.

Defensive and childish wagon-circling by liberals isn't nearly so vexing to Bryd as the apathy of most fellow conservatives. Liberals will be liberals, but one expects better from independent thinkers. Responding to the lack of interest in the arts or support for conservatives striving there, Byrd and Christopher Cook founded the Liberatchik Art Movement.

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Devoted to liberty, Liberatchik is for "conservatives and libertarians who understand the power of art." Art has ability to move people with its intrinsic value, as well as "the power to gather people into movements for a cause" – which is their primary focus.

Cook, a film researcher, script writer and more, rallies the troops with this call to action: "Are you a libertarian or conservative artist ready to help build this movement? Do you want your art posted in our gallery? Now is the time to say NO MORE! to the relentless march of statism. Some do that with activism, some do it through policy work – we do it with art!"

Silence of the Lambs – on the First Amendment / by Frances Byrd

The eloquent Declarationist Manifesto was written by Cook – check it out. Most of the Liberatchik website text is his work, as well as the original concept of a truly counter-cultural bloc of creative spirits.

Recently I had a chance to speak to Frances Byrd about her visions and adventures – and of course her art.

Marisa: "Exactly how difficult has it been to gain attention or support from conservatives in general?"

Frances: "I have been feeling like I am kicking a dead horse for the better part of the last 12 years trying to get someone to take me seriously on the subject of conservative culture. People on our side complain all day about the sorry art and entertainment industries, but when you pin them down with the need for real support, they call you aggressive and confrontational or pretend to think you want a hand-out. Things are slowly changing, but it is still near impossible to get any kind of funding or positive press."

Marisa: "How long have you been doing 'conservative' art?"

Frances: "I have been actively producing conservative/libertarian art for 12 years now. When I started back in 2003, I was unaware of anyone else creating conceptual fine art from my perspective. Editorial cartoons were about the extent of conservative creativity that I had seen. I tried to get a foothold in the art community, playing along and painting what was popular, or sticking to safe themes, but my heart wasn't in it."

Marisa: "What made you decide to do political art?"

Frances: "After several nasty conversations with other artists or patrons when they found I didn't share their views, I realized it was time to express what I was thinking and feeling. Not some relativist progressive drivel, but I took it and ran with it. Because I was most passionate about art and politics, it was logical to combine them. Liberals have been producing propaganda for years very successfully. It was the best decision I ever made and I've had more ideas than I could express."

"The World According to Alice" – 2008 political rhetoric and fear mongering
to take our attention away from the important issues / by Frances Byrd

Marisa: "Why should conservatives care about art and how could it change our culture?"

Frances: "If conservatives don't learn to look at art as something more than an accessory, they can forget about promoting limited government and conservative values to future generations. You can't say 'Modern art is ugly and movies/entertainment are vilifying our culture,' then go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheap print because it matches the drapes. If you want to change the culture, you have to support the alternative culture. Right now, that is work that is pro-American, pro-freedom, pro-individual. You have to create an economic support structure for the artists promoting those things in their art. It's petty and selfish to demand better culture, then tell an artist to get a real job and do the art on the side because you don't 'need' to waste your money on art."

Marisa: "Why do you feel there is a need for a specifically 'conservative' art community?"

Obama Youth 2008 by Frances Byrd

(Best explained by co-founder Cook): "We've been 'previously overlooked or shunned, often given short shrift' by the established art community."

Cook and Bryd charge the art world is controlled by a self-appointed elite. Leftist ideology is "monolithic," and their bias is "uni-directional." Expressions of that bias by a like-minded clique are always extolled as "brave." Our perspective is considered invalid, unworthy of inclusion and representation." Liberatchik is breaking down some of those barriers.

Marisa: "We conservatives are the outsiders and secular culture are the terrified xenophobes fighting to keep their advantage. Did you experience a lot of rejection and how do you deal with it?"

Frances: "It has not always been easy, but I am determined. I had countless confrontations, rejections, and criticisms over the years from both sides. I take them as a challenge and inspiration to fight harder. Galleries would like the quality of my work but attach a note that they are 'unable to represent your point of view.' My opinions were offensive and invalidated the quality of my art? I've also been the token conservatives at shows where I was called 'ignorant' and 'uneducated.'"

Marisa: "It almost sounds like African-Americans discussing how they might get into a college in about 1890! Are there really many conservative artists out there?"

Francis: "There are more of us out there than you would think and the work is of good quality for the most part. Most people don't look beyond merchandising sites, but there is a wide range, from gallery to editorial and everything in between. Liberatchik also has some traditional artists for those who are more comfortable with the aesthetics of the art."

"Don't Cry for Me Amerika" – dual portrait of Hillary Clinton and Eva Peron
by Frances Byrd

Marisa: "Liberals have accepted and used art to their political advantage for a long time. Perhaps that is why most artists lean that direction."

Francis: "Many conservatives find the political work too confrontational and shut down before hearing why it's important. Or, they insist they couldn't possibly have it on the wall because someone may be offended."

Marisa: "What do you hope will happen with the Declarationist Art Movement?"

Francis: "Until recently, there has only been one perspective in the fine art scene on any significant level. I hope to push the envelope and broaden and diversify the perspectives represented to the public through art. For now, I do what I can to find as many other artists who can and will write and share their art. Each year, there are more and more who are willing to produce politically relevant work and our influence grows. My main focus is shifting the involvement and perspective of conservatives and libertarians. They are where the change will start."

Marisa: "Do you have strategies to deal with PC control over the arts in general?"

Francis: "I just keep pushing the envelope, looking for opportunities to put it in front of people, and talk about it every chance I get. Because my personal art is contemporary and edgy, I tend to have some overlap with liberals until they figure out what's up. They are often hostile and feel as if they have been tricked when they find out I am not working from their world-view. But by then, the idea has been planted, and that is the larger mission."

Marisa: "Stealth conservative art attacks! Now that's funny."

Frances: "A conservative/Christian film-makers and screenwriters group is entirely underground. Also an underground art show is planned for a major U.S. city next year – absolutely top-secret at the moment. We have several well-known artists committed to the show as well as many Liberatchik artists, but it hinges heavily on significant funding. We are trying to raise the money for it now."

Marisa: "What kind of projects do you have planned for the future?"

"Take Back Our Culture" by Frances Byrd

Frances: "I have plenty of work on Machinepolitick [her personal website] that is aggressively political and unapologetically non-PC. I am currently working on two Hillary pieces, an NSA piece, a self-portrait being attacked by progressive ideology, and a Bush/Obama war comparison. I'm working on the sketches and research for a new series on Islam as well, but it may be a while before I am prepared to start those."

The Declarationist Manifesto's last appeal to conservative artists is "Let us take back the culture." Frances echoes that as well: "I absolutely feel that I have a responsibility and a calling to express my views in my art and push for representation in the art community. It has not been an easy path to take, but it is the right path."

Frances Byrd is the National Director of Liberatchik.com, and a contributing writer at Big Hollywood, Bigdawg.media and BlogBytes. Her art and writing can also be viewed at MachinePolitick. Liberatchik a network of conservative and libertarian artists, with following and social media presence. Consider joining them or checking out their work. Liberatchik artists/writers often write articles for Christopher Cook, managing editor at Western Free Press.