Captain Eyeliner, Brooklyn, New York—Ruth Bader Ginsburg Tribute Get Out The Vote, 2020, Digital print, 26 in. x 18 in. (66 cm x 45.7 cm), Gift of Betty Pfaelzer Rauch (Class of 1965) 2021.1.42

Various Artists for Project 270
Get Out the Vote, 2020
Digital prints (full set of 65)
26 in. x 18 in. (66 cm x 45.7 cm)
Gift of Betty Pfaelzer Rauch (Class of 1965) 2021.1.1-.65

The full set of sixty-five Get Out the Vote posters created for Project 270 by Mana Public Arts was recently donated to the Davis Museum. Project 270 was formed in 2020 to encourage young Americans to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming general election, as people between 18 and 38 made up 40% of the population at the time, but only constituted 25% of voters in the 2016 election. The project, which did not have any political affiliation or agenda, commissioned local graphic and street artists to design non-partisan posters for states and major metropolitan areas, including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. The posters emphasized mail-in voting, featuring a postmark with the date of the election, and included a QR code for more information about how and where to register and vote. To increase visibility and accessibility, Mana Public Art made the posters available to be purchased as an art print and as a free online download, so that they could be widely circulated in person and via social media. Project 270 and other efforts to increase millennial voting worked, as 57% of Americans between 18 and 34 voted in 2020, up from 49% in 2016.

Each poster was created by a local artist, so that the artwork would speak to issues that mattered to a regional audience. Anonymous street artist Captain Eyeliner designed the poster for Brooklyn, New York, featuring a graphic depiction of the late Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of Brooklyn’s most famous residents and a staunch supporter of voter rights. The former Supreme Court Justice stands with her arms folded, wearing black judicial robes and a collar comprised of a map of Brooklyn. The command “VOTE” floats behind her head, and just below the bust-length portrait and street scene, further text explains “IT’S THE BROOKLYN WAY.”  Captain Eyeliner supported the democratic structure of the project: “I think street art is really special in that it’s for everyone, and I think that really appeals to the 18-to-38-year-olds that Project 270 is targeting… There’s no admission fee, no standing in line, no curatorial politics. It’s just the viewer, the art, and the street.”¹

¹ Jessica Holmes, “Graphic and Street Artists Design Vibrant Posters to Get Out the Vote,” Hyperallergic, October 27, 2020 https://hyperallergic.com/596812/project-270-get-out-the-vote/