[12] The nonprofit LA Freewaves was founded in 1989 by Anne Bray,[1] an artist, media teacher, and former video curator at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions.

[12] Notable media artists who have displayed work in Freewaves programs include Cassils,[9] Tony Cokes,[15] Roger Guenveur Smith,[16] Alex Rivera,[17] Patricia Fernández,[18] Austin Young,[9] Poli Marichal,[7] and John Jota Leaños.

[11][6] Freewaves has exhibited experimental media art in unconventional venues, such as on Metro buses,[7] traveling “road shows,” cable television, video billboards, libraries, high schools,[8] sidewalks,[20] and public parks.

[22] The first festival included the participation of 35 Los Angeles media and arts organizations, 300 artists, and various curators and involved of screenings, exhibitions, and installations mounted at 30 sites, biweekly cablecasts, panel presentations, and four thematic programs called “Road Shows" across Southern California.

[4] Freewaves 2nd Celebration of Independent Video (March 1–31, 1991) was a larger festival, convening 100 arts organizations, cable stations, media centers and schools.

[5] Freewaves connected a consortium of arts organizations, cable stations, media centers and schools to present its third decentralized festival of independent video throughout the Los Angeles area from mid-September to mid-October 1992.

The festival coalesced into a broad-based response to the 1992 L.A. Uprising in South-Central Los Angeles, featuring exhibitions and cable programs including “Beyond the Color Line: Reflections on Race”.

The cable TV programs included “Freewaves Cruisin’ the Airwaves”, “Legacies”, “Race, Identity, Sexuality: Unbound Voices”, “All in a Day’s Work”, and “Multi-Boom: Youth Sound Off About Difference”.

Freewaves also conducted a citywide series of 25 free workshops – “Intro to the Internet” and “Web Design”, targeted to video makers, visual artists, writers and musicians.

[26] The seventh festival opening took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and featured over 100, thematic video bus tours, "T.V.

a 10-year LA media arts retrospective that aired on KCET, online exhibitions, as well as screenings and installations at multiple Southern California venues.

[27] In 2001, Freewaves organized three public programs of artist interviews and excerpts, a one-hour compilation of short art videos, and a curriculum guide covering the general principles in media literacy.

Freewaves' 8th festival took place from November 2002 - February 2003 throughout the greater Los Angeles area, featuring 365 artists from 20 countries in 70 shows on public television, video billboards, and digital programs at cyber cafés.

[29] Freewaves aimed to engage the public's growing skepticism about commercial media and create a consensus for change beyond the outcome of the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

Freewaves expanded its reach to include international submissions from artists in Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, China and the Middle East.

Curators from 8 different countries selected 150 total works examining freedom, unpacking assumptions about artistic intention, political intelligence, ethical dilemmas and personal desires.

For its 11th biennial festival, they organized a "10 Days 10 Blocks" tour along Hollywood Boulevard with media art (projections, screenings, video installations, interactive and mobile media, video and audio podcasts) at stores, bars, clubs, restaurants, windows, sidewalks, public transit, theaters, wifi, online and at LACE that centered around the question: “What could, should, would Hollywood be?

From October 2015 through March 2016, "Lions, Tigers, And …" intended to engage Pasadena residents and their relationship with local government and public spaces over a series of discussions, lunch gatherings, and drum circles, all taking place in the City Hall courtyard.

at Los Angeles State Historic Park, a public art exhibition that brought together 20 independent artists, collectives, and activists for an evening of performances, screenings, and installations to expand and challenge conceptions of feminism, gender, and intersectionality.

[38] The event featured works by 20 local artists including Catherine Bell, Reanne Estrada, Arshia Haq, Cassils, Young Joon Kwak, Thinh Nguyen, Ni Santas, Dakota Noot, and Yozmit.

compiles a series photographs and short essays in which artists, writers, and theorists investigate and celebrate the rapidly evolving world of gender.