WASHINGTON, D.C. — People For the American Way Foundation’s Artists For the American Way announced a billboard and bus shelter campaign with original images from world-renowned artists to support the nonpartisan “Defend the Black Vote,” campaign to mobilize Black voters and combat voter suppression and misinformation. The images will run in key states including Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin, and major cities across the U.S., including Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, Las Vegas, and Miami.
Defend the Black Vote, which first launched in 2020 to combat massive voter suppression with massive voter mobilization in 15 states, uses field-tested outreach and education program, which targets millions of Black voters with peer-to-peer texting campaigns, social engagement, and more. It expanded to Georgia, in 2022 for the Senate runoff to mobilize Black male voters between 18-60.
This year, People For the American Way Foundation is expanding the scope to include installing powerful public art in the key cities where we will be running our highly impactful peer-to-peer texting campaigns and other direct outreach efforts.
Participating artists include Beverly McIver, Wangechi Mutu, Michael Dixon, Derrick Adams and Alyson Shotz. Organizers expect that their powerful images will inspire people.
“Art is a powerful engine for civic engagement,” said People For the American Way Foundation Director of Campaigns Rio Tazewell. “It has the power to move hearts and minds, and when we harness that energy to inspire people to vote, we turn creativity into a force for positive change.“
“Art challenges our thinking and helps us humanize our own experiences in a way that encourages action,” said People For the American Way Foundation President Svante Myrick. “Part of Norman Lear’s vision when he founded People For the American Way, was to get people excited about voting and we are able to do that through our art programs in a way that promotes a sense of unity in the face of division. We are thrilled about the level of artists participation to encourage civic engagement."
In addition to the billboard and bus shelter ads to support Defend the Black Vote, Artists for the American Way recently supported a new mural by Beverly McIver in Raleigh, North Carolina, and partnered with the Center for Artistic Activism to inject $100,000 in funding, through the nonpartisan Art for the Polls program to inspire voting and to support a dozen art projects in North Carolina, Ohio, and New York, where there is a history of voter suppression and where turnout will have an outsized impact in politics across the country.
Billboard and Bus Shelter Locations:
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (billboards)
- Baltimore, Maryland (billboards)
- Houston, Texas (billboards)
- Cleveland, Ohio (billboards)
- Atlanta, GA (bus shelters)
- Las Vegas, NV (bus shelters)
- Miami, FL (bus shelters)
Participating featured artists:
- Beverly McIver
- Wangechi Mutu
- Derrick Adams
- Alyse Stone
- Michael Dixon
- Alyson Shotz
About People For the American Way Foundation People For the American Way Foundation, a national progressive advocacy organization, inspires and mobilizes community and cultural leaders to advance Truth, Justice and the American Way. We convene courageous Americans, produce compelling media and organize campaigns to defend our democracy from authoritarian threats and advance America’s promise that everyone will enjoy freedom, safety and a vote that counts. Learn more: http://www.peoplefor.org
