Artists on Mobilizing Voters in the Run-Up to the 2024 Election: Tiffany Shlain, For Freedoms, and Art for Change

As we approach perhaps the most pivotal and polarizing election in U.S. history, it becomes increasingly apparent that the fate of the country lies not in the hands of those we choose to vote for, but in the hands of all citizens that can relinquish power. At such a pressing time in American politics, the following few artists and organizations are stepping up to guide this delivery of decisive power.

Tiffany Shlain is an American artist and filmmaker participating in the Artists for Kamala organization, a partnership with artists nationwide, taking the initiative to boost civic engagement and voter turnout. An auction organized by the fund, which took place on October 1st, featured artwork donated by the most prominent contemporary artists across the U.S., with works available to purchase online through October 18th. Shlain participated with her limited edition photograph of: Dendrofemonology, A Feminist History Tree Ring, echoing her unveiling of the original sculpture at Madison Square Park for A Mobilization of Women’s Rights and the Planet.

The event highlighted the voices of artists campaigning for women’s rights, another engagement that Shlain has participated in in pursuit of boosting voter engagement in the election’s run-up. 100% of the proceeds generated by sold donated works of art benefited the Harris Victory Fund. Shlain’s sculpture, sold as a photographic print for this occasion, featured 32 distilled momentous occasions in feminist history, burned into the cross-section of a tree stump to mirror the appearance of a tree ring studied to illuminate the history of a tree, as she inverted here to illuminate the history of women, challenging the patriarchal domination of historical moments. One of the most recent anecdotes on the timeline reads “2020 - US elects first female Vice President Kamala Harris”.

Art possesses great power especially when looked at through a political lens, expressing and giving voice to those who feel they cannot otherwise be heard, illuminating paramount issues on a large and profound scale that touch people in a manner that is unattainable through any other medium. For Freedoms, an artist-led organization seeking to use art as a synergist for public engagement. Their most recent campaign “Where do we go from here?”, was a partnership with The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, an event that involved multiple activations with partners across the county. The publication proceeded with For Freedoms’ first-ever monograph, “Where do we go from here?”, available from October 15th onwards, with an intentional release date ahead of the presidential election. The monograph echoes the formative impact artists can have on political discussions amongst communities and highlights the essence of For Freedoms’ goals. For Freedoms has been responsible for showcasing photographs of over 500 billboards across America, striving to create public discourse surrounding the political issues they illustrate.

Another paradigm of the irreverent power art possesses, former First Lady, Michelle Obama, whose non-partisan organization, When We All Vote, has partnered with Art for Change, for the second time, ahead of the upcoming election.

Leading up to the election, a series of prints by various artists will be released for sale. Upon the sale of these artworks, Art for Change is dedicated to donating 5% of the sales with a minimum commitment of $10,000 commitment to When We All Vote, in support of their mission to boost voter engagement during this critical election year. As well as the presence of the artwork in the online sale, there will be an exhibit featuring all works this October 25th - November 9th at Charles Moffett Gallery in New York.