Art by Carrie Mae Weems, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jeffrey Gibson, Christine Sun Kim, and More Aims to Encourage Voters to Take Action in 2020 Presidential Election
Billboard rendering featuring new work by Alyson Shotz
(New York, NY — August 11, 2020) - Today, progressive advocacy organization People for the American Way launches the ENOUGH of Trump Kickstarter campaign, raising funds to place artist-designed billboards in key Electoral College swing states this fall to inspire the public to vote in the 2020 presidential election.
The billboard fundraising campaign is part of People For the American Way’s “ENOUGH of Trump” initiative, which encourages people across the country to share and create “Enough”-themed art and to get involved in advocacy and electoral organizing that will ultimately lead to defeating Trump in November.
The Kickstarter campaign has a goal of $40,000 to pay for the installation of 12 billboards this October and November along busy highways and in downtown centers across Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In 2016, Trump won these three swing states by a total of just 100,000 votes.
Each billboard will feature one artist-designed message from a diverse group of leading American artists involved in ENOUGH of Trump: Carrie Mae Weems, Shepard Fairey, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jeffrey Gibson, Mark Thomas Gibson, Deborah Kass, Christine Sun Kim, Takaaki Matsumoto, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Beverly McIver, Sam Messer, Ed Ruscha, Alyson Shotz, Hank Willis Thomas, Cayetano Valenzuela, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Angelica Muro, and more.
If the Kickstarter campaign exceeds its goal before it ends on September 15, 2020, People For the American Way will look to expand the project to new states, cities, and towns. In tandem with the billboard fundraising campaign, People For the American Way is planning picket signs, town hall banners, digital ads, and more to help bring their message to as many people as possible.
"People have had enough racism; enough corruption; and enough dishonesty, distraction, and dysfunction from a failed president. The Enough of Trump campaign is about engaging millions of Americans across the country who are suffering because of Trump’s disastrous leadership. The pieces produced by art activists like Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas and LaToya Ruby Frazier are designed to inspire people to vote for the change America needs," said Ben Jealous, People For the American Way President.
“ENOUGH of Trump is a project for the people, which is why we want to help it be funded by the people. This ambitious campaign has the power to inspire action and make progressive change through creative expression. We will always be a home for those kinds of projects,” said Patton Hindle, Kickstarter Head of Arts.
PLEDGE HERE
Christine Sun Kim, ENOUGH! VOTE!, 2020
BACKER REWARDS INCLUDE:
- $45: Carrie Mae Weems Reusable Bag. Carry this with you to your next town hall or protest.
- $250: Signed Shepard Fairey Print. 12 x 12 inches, signed and unframed, edition of 200.
- $2,000: Signed Richard Serra Print. Get one of Richard Serra's iconic pieces, Fake President, made for People For the American Way to help get Trump out of office. 24 x 18 inches, signed and unframed, edition of 50. The last 20 are exclusively available on Kickstarter.
Shepard Fairey and Richard Serra prints
- $3,000: Billboard Champion. You're a champion of the arts who wants to see Trump gone, period. The funds will go toward fully paying for one of the artists' billboards in advance of the 2020 election.
- $5,000: Signed Carrie Mae Weems Print. 23 x 28 inches, signed and unframed, edition of 12.
- $5,000: Signed Ed Ruscha Print. 23.5 x 18 inches, signed and unframed, edition of 50. The last 5 editions are exclusively available on Kickstarter.
Carrie Mae Weems. Remember to Dream, 2020, Silk Screen print on rag paper, 23 x 28 in.
ABOUT PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY
People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. We encourage civic participation, defend fundamental rights, and fight to dismantle systemic barriers to equitable opportunity. Learn more: https://www.pfaw.org.
ABOUT KICKSTARTER ARTS
Kickstarter Arts works with visual and performing artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions to help them realize ambitious projects. By bringing a global community of creators and supporters of the arts together, we champion ideas that break new ground, elevate meaningful dialogue, and offer imaginative opportunities for public engagement. To date, over 30,000 artistic projects have raised more than $200 million on Kickstarter across the art, dance, photography, and theater categories. Recent successful Kickstarter Arts campaigns include Bronx Museum and Henry Chalfant’s First U.S. Museum Retrospective (2019), Creative Time and Risa Puno’s 'The Privilege of Escape' (2019), Edgar Arceneaux’s Boney Manilli (2019), Raja Feather Kelly’s Tele-Gala-A-Thon (2019), Ebony G. Patterson’s Called Up for Kansas City Open Spaces (2018), For Freedoms’ 50 State Billboard Initiative (2018), Public Art Fund and Ai Weiwei’s Good Fences Make Good Neighbors (2017), Pope.L’s Flint Water at What Pipeline (2017), Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains (2016), and Postcommodity’s Repellent Fence (2015).
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KICKSTARTER PRESS CONTACTS
Marcella Zimmermann
Vice President, Cultural Counsel
[email protected]
Jill Robinson
Senior Account Executive, Cultural Counsel
[email protected]
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY PRESS CONTACT
Kawana Lloyd
Press Secretary, People For the American Way
[email protected]