Women artists, as part of the Artists for Democracy campaign, are using their art to encourage voter participation and raise awareness about the significance of the upcoming election.
In a message shared with FF2, Raquel Jones, Vice President of Campaigns and Programs puts it like this:
“People For the American Way has historically partnered with internationally renowned artists and creatives to produce arts and entertainment campaigns that can break through the noise to inspire. Our art campaigns and initiatives often address critical social issues, like reproductive freedom, and aim to mobilize communities and to leverage the transformative power of art.”The power of art can also be found in the right-wing response to it. Last month at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, People For unveiled Victoria’s “Kamala Harris: Freedom” (a portrait which depicts the Vice President looking towards a hopeful future). In response, self-professed Donald Trump and RFK Jr. supporters vandalized the prints by taking “spray paint to the posters and [tearing] bits of the wheat-pasted artwork off the wall.”
People For’s President Svante Myrick commented quickly, highlighting the atrocious and yet unshocking nature of “angry-looking white guys…defacing not just a Black woman, but a Black woman’s art.” This incident, though reprehensible, does serve to highlight the power these artists hold. The very forces they are fighting against recognize the strength of women’s voices, and their attempt to silence women only stokes our inner resolve.
