Create+Engage: The Art of Voting
September Month of Action: how art and design both inform and inspire.
Hello friends,
This summer when I was in Scandinavia and watching American politics from afar, I kept thinking about how intense election cycles feel in the U.S. The all-hands-on-deck sentiment that leaves you feeling like you should do more. We all know that feeling is incredibly overwhelming, and when we feel overwhelmed, we stall—we get stuck in our tracks. We don’t know what the right move is, so instead of something we do nothing.
That’s why I think centering art and creativity has power. Because when it feels like we can’t do anything, we can still make art. I’ve said this before, but I will say it again: the creative act is a powerful action.
For the third installment of the Create+Engage Month of Action today, which happens to coincide with National Voter Registration Day, Marta Hanson brings us an essay about art and design as it relates to the act of voting.
Art and design inform us. In a visual culture, it’s so easy to forget how important and powerful design is in our everyday, and a ballot is an excellent example.
Art rallies us. Look no further than the one of the winning designs from Michigan’s “I Voted” sticker contest that has made its way around the internet the past couple of weeks: an “unhinged werewolf” tearing its shirt off.
“It kind of just came to me,” 12-year-old artist Jane Hynous told The New York Times. “I didn’t want to do something that usually you think of when you think of Michigan,” she said. “I was like, ‘Why not make a wolf pulling his shirt off?’”
As always, the best creative lessons from children. Because when it comes to making art, Hynous offers us the perfect mantra: why not?
-Anna
Artists Take Action
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Artists Take Action Auction last week! You helped raised $1,622 to organizations focused on voter registration and voter turn out to get out the vote! Thank you Lisa Solomon for creating this space. if you were not able to donate, check out the page for recommendations of organizations you can volunteer with.
The Art of Voting
By Marta Hanson
The November after I turned eight, my parents took my younger sister and me with them to vote. I remember walking with them into the polling place—a nearby red brick Lutheran church—and feeling the warm smile of the nice lady who greeted us at the door. She handed my parents their ballots, and then turned to my sister and me.
“Would you like one too, just for practice?”
We nodded vigorously and took the sample ballot, spending the next 10 minutes pouring over it, giddy, counting as many women’s names as we could find. The real thrill, of course, came on our way out the door, when the poll worker traded our ballot for the quintessential signifier of having taken part in our democracy: a sticker. Three decades later, I’m not sure whether my lifelong love of stickers started at that moment, but my lifelong reverence for voting certainly did.
Today is National Voter Registration Day, and in honor of getting out the vote, we’ll be exploring the role of art in voting and democracy (after checking our own voter registration, of course!).
Perhaps the most iconic art associated with voting is, indeed, the “I Voted” sticker. The oldest voting-related election paraphernalia dates back to 1920, when white women wore celebratory ribbons as they voted for the first time, following the ratification of the 19th amendment—and carrying on the legacy of symbols worn to support suffrage. In the post-WWII era (and after self-adhesive stickers were invented!), "I Voted" stickers rose in popularity and became nearly ubiquitous by the 1980s.
The classic sticker of a waving American flag, designed in 1987 by Janet Boudreau, reflects traditional values of civic duty and patriotism. But artists across the country have developed unique “I Voted” stickers that reflect local industry, languages, sports teams, and more.
Some jurisdictions even host competitions where artists can submit their own designs—and the designs are weird, wonderful, and certainly an added incentive to show up at the polls. (Read on for an interview with Hollis Callas about how her design became San Francisco’s new “I Voted” sticker last year!)
Ballot design is an even more consequential artistic choice when it comes to voting. Artists are keenly aware of how design influences our interactions with the world around us — and the way images, color, text, and formatting are used in ballots has evolved dramatically over time. In her book This Is What Democracy Looked Like: A Visual History of the Printed Ballot, graphic designer Alicia Yin Cheng explains that, in the 1800s, ballots would include exclamation points behind candidate names, or graphics intended to educate or persuade voters as they voted. But these old ballots are hard to come by.
“As a material tool of democracy, the ballot should not, by its nature, be collectible.”
-Alicia Yin Cheng
Most of us probably don't look at our ballot and consider it an artistic endeavor, but design still matters. Today, groups like the Center for Civic Design and AIGA’s Design for Democracy study how ballot design impacts voter behavior—and what design techniques can help make voting as clear and easy as possible. These designers offer research-based recommendations for designing usable ballots so voters can cast their vote how they mean to (design recommendations include lowercase and sans serif font, and all candidates for a race on one page).
Then, there’s the question of who can even access the ballot box. The history of voting access in this country is one of exclusion and expansion, suppression and access, backlash and progress—and for years, artists have used paint, sculpture, poetry, and other mediums to shed light on the struggle for access to the vote. Taylor Sanders’ mixed media “Guessing Game” presents a large glass canister of jelly beans, referencing the Jim Crow-era “literacy tests” in which, in this case, Black would-be voters were asked to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar.
Leroy Campbell’s painting “Race Matters” juxtaposes newspaper clippings from the 1869 passage of the 15th amendment—which granted Black men the right to vote—with clippings of the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.
Artistic expression allows us to lean into the nuance and complexity of our ever-evolving democracy—to honor and learn from the past, to grapple with the work still undone, and to imagine new futures from a place of creative possibility.
One of my personal favorites is the poem Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes, in which he writes:
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Most importantly, art allows us to center agency and joy in a system that can feel overwhelming in its imperfection. A few years ago, I created my own “democracy playlist” that includes a number of tunes that inspire hope, conviction, and action when I need a boost, which includes:
Lift Every Voice and Sing sung by Melinda Dolittle
The Times They Are A-Changin' sung by Bob Dylan
This Joy sung by the Resistance Revival Chorus
Democracy, like art, is a practice: it is never perfect, always evolving, and full of countless opportunities for each of us to engage in ways that feel both accessible and meaningful.
With less than 50 days until Election Day, this week we invite you to create both art and civic action. Whether it’s making your own VOTE postcards or purchasing a VOTE postcard pack to send, reading the interview with Hollis Callas below or setting aside time for this week’s creative prompts, we hope you’ll join us this week to both create and engage.
Check out previous installments from our Create+Engage Month of Action: political art and public art.
CREATIVE PROMPT
Here is the challenge for you this week.
Pull out some paints or colored pencils, turn on one of the songs linked above, and make a color palette as you listen. What emerges?
What words or phrases come to mind when you think about voting? Play another song and do a free write.
Pair the visual and words and design your own “I voted” sticker!
And of course, register to vote, check your voter registration status, and get ready to vote this fall!
Share your reflections with the Creative Fuel community on the Create+Engage padlet!
Illustrator of San Francisco’s “I Voted” Sticker: Q&A With Hollis Callas
In 2023, the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Elections had a call to all residents to reimagine the “I Voted” sticker design. Their goal: a sticker design that better represented the art and culture of San Francisco. Over 650 San Franciscans submitted a new proposal for the sticker, and nearly 10,000 people voted for one of the top ten finalists.
The first place design went to Hollis Callas, a San Francisco based illustrator and designer—her design is now being used for all upcoming elections, as well as promotional material to get the word out about voting.
Hollis’ artwork is inspired by her boundless curiosity for nature and appreciation of its beautiful subtleties. With a focus on flora and fauna, her work sparks a similar awe and admiration in others, and encourages them to become more thoughtful stewards of the wild things that make our Earth so special.
We caught up with Hollis to learn a little more about her creative practice and her experience designing the “I Voted” sticker.
What inspired you to enter the contest to reimagine San Francisco’s “I Voted” sticker?
I saw the call for entries in my email and immediately thought that it was such a cool way to use art for civic engagement. I was interested in entering but honestly, after I closed my email, the rest of my work started pouring in and I kind of forgot about it! A few days later, my brother-in-law (who also lives in the City) forwarded me the same email saying he thought it was right up my alley. It was just the nudge I needed and the next day I sat down to start brainstorming and sketching some ideas.
My creative approach for this project started with writing. I made a list of all the places and things that make San Francisco so special. Personally, I love that we are surrounded by so much nature that we share our special home with. Then of course, there were iconic aspects of the city that are unmistakably San Franciscan like the Golden Gate Bridge and the wild parrots that I wanted to include. After my brainstorm, I started the sketching process and pieced together elements until I reached a harmonious design.
What does it mean to be creative?
Creativity is such a gift! I feel very grateful to walk through life with an artistic perspective and a sense of imagination. I feel like it allows me to appreciate the small details that make life so special. Being human is a creative act in itself and I truly think anyone can hone their creativity if they give it enough space. I feel particularly lucky to have built a career that allows me to use my creativity to help others express and celebrate unique ideas!
What does it mean to be an artist?
To be an artist means to observe. To take in the world around you and to find new ways to share it with others.
Any upcoming work or efforts you would like to highlight!
I have a few upcoming things in the works! I am most excited about a new collaboration with Lili Tiles. I created a collection of 8 floral-inspired designs that will take the form of hand-poured cement tiles for your home! I am so excited to see my work bring joy to people’s spaces! Launch is next week so keep an eye out for them.
Snag a VOTE postcard pack! 10 postcards featuring Anna’s papercuts. A percentage of sales this month will be donated to Vote America.
UPCOMING CREATE+ENGAGE WORKSHOPS
Thursday September 26, 5-6pm PT: Create+Engage Studio Session
This will be a little more casual than our usual Create+Engage workshops, and we’re hoping that it will encourage you to use this time to come and work on some type of creative action. Make and write some postcards, draw some political poster designs, etc. Sign up here.
Wednesday October 16, 5-6:30pm PT: Create+Engage October Session
We’ll be announcing guest artists soon. Sign up here.
Wednesday November 13, 5-6:30pm PT: Create+Engage November Session
Yup, the election will be behind us before we know it. Save the date for now, and more info to come.
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If anyone happens to be in Mexico City (I know, right?) the Museo Objeto del Objeto currently has a fantastic exhibit on about the voting paraphernalia of election history in Mexico and how it ties to political identity and the democratization of voting.
This was fantastic - so interesting & I love the playlist! This Joy has been a favorite for a few years now and I haven’t listened to it in months. Thanks for the reminder 💗