For Freedoms: DEREK FORDJOUR, Installation view of “Drum Roll Role Call” (billboard), Memphis, Tenn. Location: UNION VIADUCT SS 1000FT W/O POPLAR F/E-1. | Billboard in partnership with Movement Voter Fund, Courtesy For Freedoms
ARTISTS ARE WEIGHING IN on the 2024 election, using their art to implore voters to turn out and have their voices heard in the U.S. Presidential campaign, as well as in state and local races.
Where commuters ordinarily see advertisements for familiar brands and commercial products, artists have installed their art. Billboards and bus shelters dotting the landscape in swing states feature works by Derrick Adams, Shepard Fairey, Derek Fordjour, Jenny Holzer, Beverly McIver, Wangechi Mutu, Ebony G. Patterson, Christine Sun Kim, Carrie Mae Weems, and dozens more artists. The get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns are organized by For Freedoms and People for the American Way (PFAW).
For Freedoms is an artist-led organization founded by Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery in 2016. With a focus on civic engagement, discourse, and direct action, For Freedoms harnesses the creativity of artists to educate the public and bring awareness to an array of social issues. In less than a decade, For Freedoms has worked with more than 1,000 artists, according to the organization.
Over the summer, For Freedoms targeted the conventions of both major political parties. A billboard by Hank Willis Thomas was launched in Milwaukee, Wisc., to coincide with the Republic National Convention (July 15-18). His work referenced Black Lives Matter and the controversy over some people discounting the political movement and the plight of Black people by asserting the obvious, that all lives matter. Calling attention to the endless lies and false statements spewed by Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, Thomas’s graphic billboard declares “All Li_es Matter” in white text over a black background.
For Freedoms: HANK WILLIS THOMAS, Installation view of “All Li es Matter,” (billboard), Milwaukee, Wisc., Location: 76th St ES 0.4mi N/O Bradley Rd F/S – 1. | Billboard in Partnership with Movement Voter Fund. Photo by Josh Groth, Courtesy For Freedoms
In August, For Freedoms installed billboards by six artists in Chicago near the site of the Democratic National Convention (Aug. 19-22). The billboards by Carrie Mae Weems, Christine Wong Yap, Ebony G. Patterson, Koyoltzinlti Miranda-Rivadeneira, Slow and Steady Wins the Race, and Jake Troyli were installed in partnership with Movement Voter Fund and Gertie, a Chicago-based civic and cultural agency. The billboard by Weems featured the words “With Democracy in the Balance There is Only One Choice,” in all caps over images of the Lincoln Memorial. The goal of the convention efforts was to increase civic engagement.
This fall in the lead up to the Nov. 5 election, For Freedoms broadened its reach, installing billboards across 21 states, including key battlegrounds like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Arizona. The sweeping public art campaign is one aspect of Where Do We Go From Here?, For Freedom’s multi-part initiative for 2024. The organization also convened The For Freedoms Congress, a symposium at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Sept. 27-28), and launched its first publication.
In Memphis, Tenn., a billboard by Derek Fordjour presents a creative get-out-the-vote message with the individual letters in the word “VOTE” featured on a series of drums. Based in New York, Fordjour was born in Memphis. The billboard is a direct expression of his practice, which engages with issues of race, identity, and inequality in materially complex paintings and installations composed with layers of cardboard, newspaper, and paint.
Fordjour invokes the culture of sport and the symbolism of teams, uniforms, marching bands, and formations in his work, exploring the power of the collective and the vulnerability, agency, and scrutiny that comes with visibility and achievement. The insights and meaning embedded in the work resonate with many key voting blocs and engage with the stakes in the election and issues they prioritize—from preserving democracy and reproductive freedom to economic opportunity and immigration reform.
“Our goal for 2024 is to meet the moment of our increasingly divisive socio-political climate with the radical act of listening,” For Freedoms Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Michelle Woo said in a statement. “This is an invitation to practice compassionate communication and creativity with the aim of transforming fear and othering into greater awareness, understanding and connection through the common language of artistic expression.”
“Our goal for 2024 is to meet the moment of our increasingly divisive socio-political climate with the radical act of listening. This is an invitation to practice compassionate communication and creativity with the aim of transforming fear and othering into greater awareness, understanding and connection through the common language of artistic expression.”
— For Freedoms Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Michelle Woo
SHEPARD FAIREY, Norman Lear, VOTE Harris-Walz (billboard). | People for the American Way
TV PRODUCER NORMAN LEAR (1922-2023) founded People for the American Way in 1981. PFAW has endorsed the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz Presidential campaign, the Democratic ticket, and said it is “working to elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot.” On Sept. 28, the organization auctioned three works from its collection at Sotheby’s New York with the proceeds benefitting its various election activities. The three lots by Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein and Ellsworth Kelly sold for $438,000, including fees.
PFAW was also on the ground during the conventions. In Milwaukee, during the Republican National Convention, the organization deployed mobile billboards by Shepard Fairey, Victoria Cassinova, Michael Dixon, and other artists. At the Democratic National Convention, PFAW installed wheatpaste posters on walls around the convention site. The posters featured a graffiti-style portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris by Cassinova, the Los Angeles-based artist.
Hank Willis Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems, and Derrick Adams are among the artists who have collaborated with both People for the American Way and For Freedoms in recent election cycles. For the 2024 campaign, Weems’s PFAW billboard features a series of black-and-white photographs of Harris speaking. She is shown with various facial expressions and hand gestures. The images are paired with the phrase: “Leading With Compassion, Not Complaint!”
“The antidote to efforts to suppress the vote is massive voter turnout. That’s why we have to empower voters to turn out in record numbers to protect our freedoms.”
— People For the American Way Foundation President Svante Myrick
Portraits of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for President, were produced as wheatpaste posters and displayed around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill., in August. The image was also used for billboard display. Shown, VICTORIA CASSINOVA, VP Kamala Harris, Freedom, VOTE Harris-Walz (billboard). | People for the American Way
Cassinova’s portrait of Harris was re-produced on billboards. One of Fairey’s billboard designs centers a portrait of Norman Lear in the artist’s signature colorway and pop art-style. A stark message in support of reproductive rights from artist Deborah Kass zooms in on a single female eye alongside bold text arranged on three lines that reads: “Your Body, Your Life, Your Vote.”
Among its 2024 Artists for Democracy campaign activities, PFAW’s Defend the Black Vote is a nonpartisan mobilization effort designed to address misinformation and voter suppression. The national, multi-platform initiative is focused on key states with significant Black electorates, honing in on specific cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, and Philadelphia.
Defend the Black Vote also includes a mural project. In North Carolina, Chapel Hill-based artist Beverly McIver installed a mural in Raleigh with a clear GOTV message. The work features a bearded Black man with his baseball cap on backwards, pointing at the viewer with the word “Vote!” above his head. The image feels familiar, referencing the Uncle Sam “I Want You for U.S. Army” posters that appeared in the early 20th century in an effort to recruit soldiers for the military and factory workers for defense production during in World War I.
“Beverly’s mural speaks directly to what America needs right now and that’s for every eligible voter in every community across the country to cast a ballot and make their voices heard at the polls,” People For the American Way Foundation President Svante Myrick said in a statement. “The antidote to efforts to suppress the vote is massive voter turnout. That’s why we have to empower voters to turn out in record numbers to protect our freedoms.” CT
FIND MORE about For Freedoms and People for the American Way on their websites
FIND MORE Victoria Cassinova’s posters of VP Kamala Harris were vandalized in Chicago at the DNC. People For President and CEO Svante Myrick shared a video of the destruction as it happened
Beverly McIver’s “Vote!” mural is installed at 514 New Bern in Raleigh, N.C. The project is part of the People For the American Way Foundation’s Defend the Black Vote campaign. McIver is a professor of the Practice of Art, Art History and Visual Studies at Duke University. A solo exhibition is her work is currently featured at Berry Campbell Gallery in New York. “Beverly McIver: Entangled” is on view through Nov. 16, 2024. | Video by PFAWdotorg
BEVERLY MCIVER, VOTE (billboard). | People for the American Way
DEBORAH KASS, Your Body, Your Life, Your Vote (billboard). | People for the American Way
WANGECHI MUTU, VOTE (bus shelter). | People for the American Way
Some of the most effective GOTV billboards by artists are direct messages that combine their art with the word “VOTE.” Billboards by Derrick Adams, Shepard Fairey, Derek Fordjour, Michael Dixon, and Beverly McIver adopt this approach. Shown, DERRICK ADAMS, Leisure is Liberty. | People for the American Way
SHEPARD FAIREY, VOTE Harris-Walz (billboard). | People for the American Way
MICHAEL DIXON, VOTE (bus shelter). | People for the American Way
CARRIE MAE WEEMS, “Leading With Compassion, Not Complaint!” VOTE Harris-Walz (billboard). | People for the American Way
For Freedoms: This Carrie Mae Weems billboard was installed in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention (Aug. 19-22, 2024). Shown, CARRIE MAE WEEMS, Installation view of “With Democracy In The Balance There Is Only One Choice,” (billboard), Chicago, Ill. Location: 2516-2520 S Hillock Ave, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. | Billboard in partnership with Movement Voter Fund. © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin
BOOKSHELF
“For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here?” is the first publication of the artist-led organization. Fully illustrated, the volume explores the many campaigns and projects For Freedoms developed over the years. “Beverly McIver: Full Circle” documents the artist’s recent traveling exhibition. Several recent volumes explore the work of Carrie Mae Weems including “Carrie Mae Weems: A Great Turn in the Possible” and “Carrie Mae Weems: The Shape of Things.” Also consider “Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue,” “Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now,” her first collection of writings, and “Carrie Mae Weems: Kitchen Table Series,” which studies the artist’s best known series. Several volumes also document the work of Shepard Fairey, including “Shepard Fairey: 3 Decades of Dissent,” “Covert to Overt: The Under/Overground Art of Shepard Fairey,” and “OBEY: Supply and Demand” (2018), an updated version of the artist’s first book published in 2006. There is also a 2025 calendar that features Fairey’s work.
