Fred Moss created an original painting, The Future We Choose, during the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s inaugural Every Child Thrives Festival, held June 23-25 at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side.
Over the course of the three-day festival, Moss painted live as youth leaders, educators, community advocates, artists and changemakers gathered to explore ideas centered on the future of children and communities. The Future We Choose features the faces of five young adults, representing a new generation and the possibilities that emerge when young people are given the opportunity to help shape their future.
“The experience of painting this artwork at the Obama Presidential Center was incredibly meaningful to me,” said Moss, a Wheaton resident who grew up in Elmhurst. “The idea of hope has always been an important part of my work. I wanted the faces in this painting to look toward the future and reflect the idea that the choices we make today can help shape the world the next generation inherits.”
The painting has a quote from President Obama stating “We choose Hope over fear.” Moss worked on the painting throughout the three-day event, completing the artwork on the festival’s final day. The finished painting was then shipped to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
For Moss, the project also represented a return to creating artwork connected to Chicago and the power of public storytelling.
A graduate of the College for Creative Studies and Immaculate Conception High School, Moss is known for representational and impressionistic paintings inspired by landscapes, cities and the people and places that shape communities. His work has included National Park landscapes, paintings of Chicago and Italy, and large-scale public art projects.
Moss previously contributed to the Chicago Public Art Group mural All of Us and created public art for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, including a Horse of Honor sculpture featuring imagery of the Chicago skyline and flag.
“Art has the ability to communicate ideas in a way that can be immediate and emotional,” said Moss, whose mother lives in Elmhurst. “With The Future We Choose, I wanted viewers to see hope, possibility and the importance of the next generation.”
About Fred Moss
Moss is an American artist whose work focuses on representational and impressionistic painting. Inspired early by visits to the Art Institute of Chicago, Moss studied at the College for Creative Studies and later continued his artistic studies in Florence, Italy. His paintings explore landscapes, cities and moments of human connection through expressive color and painterly technique. His work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions and has included public art projects throughout the Chicago area.
