Vote Your Future: Posters by nine emerging illustrators appear in NYC-wide campaign

Non-partisan poster campaign Vote Your Future launches today in New York City featuring designs by nine emerging illustrators, hoping to represent diverse voices and advocate voter turnout. Posters curated by Amplifier.org and designed by Celeste Beyers, Gillian Dreher, Brooke Fischer, Shannon Finnegan, Kayla Jones, Laci Jordan, Never Made, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya and Carolyn Suzuki will appear everywhere around NYC from Times Square – which even during the pandemic has seen 30,000 – 100,000 daily visitors – to wild postings. There is a particular focus on boroughs where voter turnout is historically low: Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens.

Each poster has a QR code taking people to vote.org where they can access key voter information across the city. The campaign is organised by Times Square Arts, a public art program wherein contemporary artists such as Kehinde Wiley and Tracey Emin, and cultural institutions make work for one of the world’s most famous urban spaces; and Amplifier, a non-profit artist activism group.

The artworks promote equality and inclusion in vibrant colourful ways, with messages in English, Spanish and Mandarin. “Women, and especially women of colour have become incredibly influential voting blocs for our country,” artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya tells It’s Nice That. In her artworks, “pairs of women stand defiantly, ready to determine their futures amidst a flurry of stars, stripes, and ballots,” she says. “Around them, verdant life blooms, signifying the change these women of colour are bringing to our country by exercising their right to vote.”

“We’re living through a moment full of hurt and hardship, but the act of voting can serve as a beacon of hope among a sea of despair,” continues Phingbodhipakkiya. “Through this essential right that women and people of colour fought so hard for, we can ignite change and create new possibilities… no matter our age, race, or gender, the responsibility for upholding our democracy falls to us all.”

Shannon Finnegan explains of her poster: “Because of Alice Wong, Greg Beratan, and Andrew Pulrang's #CripTheVote movement, I think of myself as a disabled voter and am reminded of the power of disability communities at the ballot box. I'm thrilled to have this work in Times Square and hope it brings attention to the political power of disabled people.”

Carolyn Suzuki adds that her poster “represents the diverse voices throughout our nation that deserve to be heard”.

Vote Your Future launches today (15 October 2020) around New York City. Organisations interested in bringing the campaign to their own neighbourhood can download the artworks for free via Amplifier’s website.