Downtown's 21c Museum Hotel has activated its attached Gano Alley with a slew of wheat paste posters to ask citizens to remember what they're voting for, and not just who.
In partnership with design lab Amplifier, the 338 posters feature work from roughly 100 artists (and took Michael Hurst, 21c Museum Manager,and Eli Meiners, 21c Senior Director of Museum Operations, about 16 hours to install, says 21c).
"With the election coming up, I thought it’d be a great opportunity to make a mural that doesn’t focus on one thing, but rather focus(es) on everything! In the end, we are telling people to vote without telling them WHO to vote for, rather by reminding them WHAT they are voting for," says Hurst in an interview on 21c's site.
Messages include things like: "There is no justice in a racist system," "Invest in community" and "Stand up, show up."
Amplifier commissioned artists including Shepard Fairey, Ryan Oakley and Thomas Wimberly to create 24-inch-by-18-inch prints.
"There are around 100 artists represented on our wall, give or take," says Hurst in the interview. "And the cool part about the cross-promotion on Instagram is that artists in Alaska and California and New York have reached out to ask about the project and express gratitude for having their artwork included in the mural. But (to be honest), it’s me who is grateful because without their art and their designs, the fair use availability of it on Amplifier.org we wouldn’t even have the mural."
The poster display coincides with 21c's new Metropole at Home Dine with Art take-out menu.
Executive chef Vanessa Miller will be creating a special heat-and-eat meal that includes a new art experience — this time, it's the Gano Alley artwork. Everyone who comes to pick up a meal will get a free poster.
Miller's menu for October includes Saffron and tomato risotto with garlic shrimp, snap peas and pea tendrils; a little gem salad; garlic bread; and vanilla bean panna cotta with pumpkin seed brittle. Pre-ordering ends midnight Oct. 29 and meal pick-up is 4-7 p.m. Oct. 30 or 2-6 p.m. Oct. 31.
A portion of proceeds will benefit the Freestore Foodbank.
You can also view For… Freedom, 2020 by Lyndon Barrois Sr. and a video by The Wide Awakes online.
For more info, visit metropoleonwalnut.com. And read the full interview with Hurst here.
*The original version of this story didn't include Michael Hurst as part of the install. It has been corrected and updated.
