Art & the Right to Housing

"The right of housing refers to "the right to live somewhere in peace, security and dignity."

- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

International law defines seven dimensions of the right to adequate housing. The artwork displayed here illustrate these seven dimensions in powerful and concrete ways, connected to community experiences across the United States.

We hope these pieces will be helpful in advocacy to address homelessness and advance the right to housing.

What is the right to housing?

The most comprehensive statement of the right to housing is found in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 11.

Art

The artwork below address the seven dimensions of the right to housing. Please feel free to download and use these pieces in advocacy for a right to housing.

1. Legal Security of Tenure

Guaranteeing legal protection against forced eviction, harassment, and other threats.

Home Shouldn't Depend on a Job by Amandatron5000Phd, Red Line Service artist

The Red Line Service

In Home Shouldn’t Depend on a Job, Amandatron5000Phd explores the precarity with which most people in the U.S. live – a paycheck, medical emergency, or other crisis away from houselessness.  

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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Do the Math by Shay Jones, Red Line Service artist

The Red Line Service

Jones makes the simple and compelling argument that housing costs the taxpayer less than criminalizing houselessness.  

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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None of Us Are Home Until All of Us Are Home, Red Line Service artists

The Red Line Service

None of Us Are Home Until All of Us Are Home: Suggests that a home is as vital as a beating heart, emphasizing that our communal health relies on everyone taking responsibility to ensure housing for all.

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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2. Accessibility

Prioritizing disadvantaged groups and ensuring they have full and sustainable access to adequate housing.

A Home Changes Everything by Tina F, Red Line Service artist

The Red Line Service

 

Tina F brings to the fore the way housing changes everything. Without it, everything is harder: working, focusing on mental health, focusing on physical well-being, building relationships, and feeling a sense of belonging, to name a few of the barriers that rob people experiencing houselessness of humanity.  

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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Red Tape, by Dave Scott, Red Line Service artist

Red Tape

Red Tape points to the enormous barriers for people seeking affordable housing in the U.S., including long waitlists, restrictions on the application process, hurdles to qualifying, as well as the proscriptive rules of management, and lack of recourse for subpar accommodations, all of which make it difficult to work, live and thrive.  

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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Never-Ending Lottery I and Never-Ending Lottery II, by Tina F, Red Line Service artist

Lottery 

In her pendant, Never-Ending Lottery I and Never-Ending Lottery II, Tina F demonstrates the contingent, arbitrary, chance-based system of securing affordable housing in the U.S. It also points to the exhaustion of the search process itself.

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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Change the Game by Dave Scott, Red Line Service artist


Game

Change the Game explores the fundamental tension between seeing housing as a real estate, income-generating opportunity, and seeing it as a human right. It asks us to consider the barriers for people seeking housing, and what it would look like if we prioritized people over profit.  

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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3. Affordability 

Keeping the financial costs of housing to a level where the satisfaction of other basic needs is not threatened or compromised.

Diminishing Housing Affordability by Hannah Smaglis

 

• Diminishing Housing Affordability by Hannah Smaglis

The canvas is divided into sections, each representing the various living expenses individuals need to spread their income between every month. As housing costs increase, it becomes more and more difficult for individuals to afford the other resources that are required for their survival.

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Wheel of Affordable Housing by Efren Paderes, Red Line Service artist


Wheel


Wheel of Affordable Housing evokes a popular game show to highlight the random, luck-based system of securing affordable housing in the U.S. and the reality of being waitlisted for decades.  

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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No Affordable Housing is our Discontent/Affordable Housing is our Content by Amandatron5000Phd, Red Line Service artist

The Red Line Service

Amandatron5000PhD makes a clear, graphic statement of the problem of the lack of affordable housing.

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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The Myth of the American Dream by Efren Paderes, Red Line Service artist

The Red Line Service

Paderes' print points to the government failure to help all people achieve a home.   

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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Raising Minimum Wage by James Lee Williams, Red Line Service artist

The Red Line Service

Williams’ Raising Minimum Wage focuses on the fundamental three-fold problem of rising housing costs, gutting of public aid, and stagnation of wages in creating the problem of houselessness in the U.S. Williams suggests that raising the minimum wage is one important step to ending houselessness.  

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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4. Location

Locating adequate housing to allow access to food sources, health care services, employment options, schools, childcare centers, and other social facilities.

The Centrality of Housing Location by Hannah Smaglis

 

The Centrality of Housing Location by Hannah Smaglis.

This piece focuses on the importance of locating housing in an area that provides residents with access to fresh food, health care, and public transportation. As more housing is torn down to erect highways, individuals who rely on public transportation are deprived of access to the essential resources to survive and thrive.

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5. Availability of Services

Facilitating services essential for health, security, comfort, and nutrition.

Public Toilets are a Right Not a Priviledge, Red Line Service artists

Red TapeRed Tape

Public Toilets are a Right Not a Privilege: "In cities where public restrooms are scarce or restricted to paying customers, people experiencing houselessness are forced to use unsuitable spaces as restrooms, affecting the health of the entire community. Controlling basic bodily functions of unhoused people dehumanizes us and fails to address the underlying issue."

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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6. Habitability

Providing inhabitants with adequate space and protecting them from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, or other threats to health and structural hazards.

Nature is Not Adequate Shelter, Red Line Service artists

The Red Line Service

Nature is NOT Adequate Shelter: The trees symbolize the nurturing qualities absent in the systems houseless people encounter, making a powerful plea for housing for all families.

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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Homeless and I'm Still More Than Your Statistics by Red Line Service artists

 

Climate Gentrification by Hannah Smaglis

Homeless and I'm Still More than Your Statistics: Highlights the inadequacy of housing for those living with housing insecurity. "On the left, a generic infographic person represents dehumanizing statistics. On the right, a child with autism covers his ears because the assigned housing is loud and unsuitable for his needs."

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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7. Cultural Adequacy

Housing construction, building materials, and policies that enable the expression of cultural identity and diversity of housing.

Climate Gentrification by Hannah Smaglis

 

Climate Gentrification by Hannah Smaglis

This piece highlights the climate gentrification crisis within Miami. As floods and other severe weather persist from climate change, many developers are seeking to move their real estate from the shorelines further inland. This push inland threatens to displace many communities across Miami, eroding housing accessibility, cultural adequacy, and security of tenure. This piece symbolizes the strength communities bringin coming together to address this problem.

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Housing is a Right by Sam Caldera, Red Line Service artistGame

Caldera’s Housing is a Right demonstrates the anger and frustration of being marked racially or culturally, and having to give up cultural traditions, practices, and preferences to be considered qualified for housing. 

Red Line Service is a community of artists with lived experience of being unhoused - for more information: Red Line Service

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