Artist wants people to LOVEMORE

Jeremy Hodges is an artist and creator of the LOVEMORE campaign. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JEREMY HODGES.
Jeremy Hodges is an artist and creator of the LOVEMORE campaign. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JEREMY HODGES.

 Artist wants people to LOVEMORE

By Tia Carol Jones

Jeremy Hodges has built an anti-hate campaign that celebrates the beauty of humanity through love. LOVEMORE was born out of what Hodges saw during 2020 as the pandemic and social injustice put a spotlight on how divided people were becoming.

With LOVEMORE, Hodges has crafted a world where love, empathy and compassion reign supreme. Posters with the refrain “LOVEMORE” can be seen on buildings, as well as t-shirts, tote bags, stickers and lapel pins. It serves as a call to action and when people see it, they know that the person wearing it is fighting against all forms of hatred, fighting for everyone’s rights and has a mutual respect for other people.

Hodges has always had artistic abilities, from teaching himself how to play piano to teaching himself how to draw. He was also an athlete and made education a priority. In college, he learned his superpower: curating events and bringing people together. Throughout the years, he decided to put his art and creativity out into the world.

Hodges has designed and created the immersive Tupac Shakur Museum experience, “Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free,” and the Bob Marley “One Love Experience.” Hodges created these immersive experiences as part of his firm, Project Art Collective.

Through these expressions and many others, he has grown the confidence to share his creative side with the world.

“As a creative, you have to be vulnerable, but you also have to have a little bit of a thick skin, but it’s tough to have that thick skin. It takes years to understand that not everyone is going to like what you put out there,” Hodges said.

He added, once a creative understands that art is made to be perspective and everyone should have a different point of view of what’s out in the world, and that’s what sparks conversations and it is the power of art. It is the kind of power Hodges wants to lean into when he creates his art.

“I want to spark conversations, I want to spark change, I want to potentially change your perspective and hopefully, it makes you emotional,” Hodges said. “I would love for you to walk through an exhibit or experience I created and you are crying once you are done with it, or just super happy when you’re done. That’s the goal of art and that’s the beauty of art.”

Hodges wants people to look at his art in a different way with a different lens and know their perspective is not wrong. He wants to use the understanding of what art can be and how it can evoke emotions to bring people to the table to have important conversations.

With LOVEMORE, Hodges is collaborating with Diversify the Stage, an organization that was founded in 2020 by Noelle Scaggs, co-lead vocalist of Fitz and The Tantrums. The goal of the organization is to create greater access to opportunities in live music, touring industries and event for people from marginalized communities. Hodges said the mission of Diversify the Stage is similar to LOVEMORE’s vision, but is geared toward the entertainment and live music industry. A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of LOVEMORE products will go directly toward Diversify the Stage.

Hodges wants people who see LOVEMORE products and art to pause and think about how other people are feeling. He hopes it sparks a conversation and that people think about being an advocate for having empathy and compassion for other people and what they might be going through. He wants people to have love for others and love for themselves. When you flip LOVEMORE, it also says MORELOVE.

“I want you to understand that self-love and loving yourself is just as important, because you can’t love the world until you have taken care of home and taken care of yourself,” he said. “This is just a campaign to unite and bring people together, because we can fight all the evil in solidarity.”

For more information about LOVEMORE, visit www.lovemore2day.com.

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