Our program to support U.S. artists creatively engaging in the 2024 election
Are you an artist who wants to use your creativity to inspire people to vote this year?
Join our special Art for the Polls online workshop! On July 9 from 5-7pm ET, we’re providing resources and insights to help you channel your unique skills and imagination into effective civic engagement in 2024.
Art moves people, making it vital in an election year where potential voters are fatigued, frustrated, fearful, and maybe even furious. Fortunately, we know creative minds like yours can communicate hope, perseverance, and the power of collective action through evocative visual and experiential art.
This 2-hour, free, online workshop will give you the foundation and tools you need to apply your creativity to efforts to register voters, get out the vote, and encourage civic participation in the communities you care about most.
Apply below to join this workshop. Applications are due by Tuesday, July 2, at 11:59pm ET. Capacity is limited — apply today.
Following the workshop, you can stay for a virtual mixer to build community among this nationwide group of inventive and inspiring social change artists.
Based in North Carolina or New York, or have strong ties to those states? We have even more for you.
Art for the Polls is a 501c3-friendly program of People for the American Way Foundation and its Artists for the American Way campaign, the Center for Artistic Activism, and local partners Cleveland VOTES, Common Cause NC, and the Chinese-American Planning Council.
What to expect in the Art for the Polls workshop
The two-hour workshop on July 9 will be an engaging, interactive session that dives into how artists can use their special skills to support civic engagement.
Content covered will include:
- Inspiring examples of how artists have led incredibly effective creative projects in past election cycles
- Concrete steps of how to build a creative campaign and support in you starting to build (or expand on) your own
- Insight into what we’ve seen is really working in creative civic engagement this year
- And more!
The session will be led by C4AA’s Rebecca Crawford Muñoz and Rachel Gita Karp, joined by People for the American Way Foundation’s President Svante Myrick, Common Cause North Carolina’s Campaigns Manager Gino Nuzzolillo, and the Chinese-American Planning Council’s Civic Engagement Manager and current Unstoppable Voters Fellow Caroline Scown.
What artists are saying about our workshops:
“The training was incredibly inspiring and really showed how you can think outside of the box to accomplish your goals.”
“This was honest and different. I felt seen, supported and heard the entire time.”
“You should definitely do the workshop with the Center for Artistic Activism because it challenges your thinking. If you ever find that you’re in a rut or you’re not having the impact on your constituency that you think you should have, or if you’re tired of seeing things done in the same way… this is a beneficial workshop for you because it challenges you not just to think creatively, but to also think collaboratively.”
“This is the best training I’ve ever gotten in my whole life, for anything.”
Are you in North Carolina or New York?
If you’re based in North Carolina or New York, we have even more opportunities for you.
In addition to the Art for the Polls workshop, we’re holding a second advanced, state-specific workshop for artists or arts collectives in each state, co-led by local partners and nonprofits Common Cause NC and the Chinese-American Planning Council in NY.
Artists in North Carolina or New York who attend both workshops and develop creative ideas to advance civic engagement in 2024 can apply for funding to realize their ideas this fall.
Learn more below.
More about our expanded work in North Carolina and New York
In North Carolina and New York, we’re partnering with Common Cause NC and the Chinese-American Planning Council to help artists realize imaginative ideas for how to increase civic engagement in these key states.
Through this expanded program, artists will get:
- A second advanced training on how to apply their skills to support local civic engagement campaigns
- The opportunity to apply for funding to realize their artistic projects
- A community of passionate artists who are looking to use their skills for good this year
Advanced online training dates: for New York artists and collectives, July 16 5-7pm ET; for North Carolina: July 17 5-7pm ET. (The idea is to attend both the training on July 9 + your state-specific training, as the two will build on each other.)
Artists who attend both the Art for the Polls July 9th training and their state-specific training, or view the recordings, will be eligible to apply for project funding. Applications for project funding will open in mid-July and projects will be selected in August. In addition to funding, selected projects will receive:
- artistic activism mentorship from the Center for Artistic Activism
- civic engagement expertise from Common Cause NC (in North Carolina) and the Chinese-American Planning Council (in New York)
- the chance to be featured in People for the American Way Foundation’s Defend the Black Vote campaign (for relevant projects)
- press and documentation support
- a community of artists using their special skills for good this year!
Apply for Art For the Polls
Complete the application below by July 2, 2024, at 11:59pm ET. Have questions about the program or issues with the application? Reach out.
The deadline for applications for Art for the Polls has passed. Thank you to all who applied!
What is Unstoppable Voters?
Through the Center for Artistic Activism’s expansive Unstoppable Voters program, we support creatively risk-taking, strategic, ambitious organizations, people, and projects that protect the freedom to vote in the U.S. We provide training and community building for individuals and groups who are passionate about protecting voting and bringing the needed innovation to that fight. We also provide funding and support to help manifest that innovation and bring real, measurable impact. To date, we’ve helped over 120 organizations and over 1200 individual activists, artists, and everyone in between make voting accessible, safe, joyful, powerful, and irresistible.