The Art of Voting
The Art of Voting features original artwork and essays by over 100 illustrators, production designers, showrunners, writers, and activists to encourage people to vote in the 2020 election.
I was invited to join the project by the Cawzii team during their submission curation process as the author of the foreword. I ended up becoming a contributing editor as well.
My role ultimately included writing the foreword, contributing an infographic, soliciting and editing written submissions to the book, and coordinating a partnership with Courage California which made it possible for The Art of Voting to include a comprehensive framework for electing progressive leaders in the collection.
Written Submissions
While the book began as a collection of GOTV posters, we agreed that adding more educational and informative content to the book would elevate the project. I worked to solicit and curate 300-350 word submissions on topics from a range of both professional and non-professional writers including:
How your life colors your feelings about voting
How this moment in time creates new possibilities for civic participation
How government can better support citizens at the ballot box
How individuals can shift their mindsets in relation to the electoral process as a long-term goal rather than just this election
We also gave the standard classroom civics poster the classic board game treatment.
During the high stakes environment of the 2020 US election, I and two colleagues also brought the public policymaking process to life as a dynamic board game illustration to contribute to the book. Colorful terrain maps the thorny journey from idea to law, with debate, votes, and policy enactment along the way.
Results
The campaign raised $12,044 from 229 donors on Go Fund Me, reaching 60% of its fundraising goal of $20,000. The book was also featured in The Hollywood Reporter.
The results speak to the tumultuous atmosphere of 2020 as well as the need for a redesign of how civic engagement and participation operate in the 21st century if democracy is to survive in the US.
Team
Allison Mann
Stephanie Perea
Vincent Perea
Paula Rogers
Kiersten Nash
Deepthi Welaratna