PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — If art has the power to move us emotionally, it has the power to move us civically. At least, that’s the motivation behind an exhibit in LOVE Park in Center City.
“To the Polls” is a biennial, nonpartisan exhibition led by Streets Dept. blogger and community activist Conrad Benner and Mural Arts Philadelphia.
“We are in LOVE Park. We’ve built six mural walls here, and we have six local artists painting all about voting and democracy,” said Benner. The point, he explained, is to share the work of Philadelphia artists that captures the importance of voting in this and every election.
“Voting wasn’t always a right for everyone in this country. People had to fight for it — from the suffrage movement to the civil rights movement,” said artist Alloyius Mcilwaine, one of the six artists featured.
“The thing is called ‘To the Polls,’ and I just wanted to put in different words that kind of get across what America should be about — like equality, justice,” he said.
Organizers are hoping that the art that inspires someone to vote can have a viral effect, moving from one person to their friends, to those friends’ friends, and so on.
“Why do we have ‘I voted’ stickers, right? We know that positive peer pressure — this idea that, if you know that people around you are voting, you’re more likely to vote,” said Benner. “And that’s what you can do. Before you get your ‘I voted’ sticker, you can come out here, take a selfie in front of these murals, and that’ your ‘I voted’ sticker online.”
Each of the six murals is 12 feet wide, 8 feet tall, and will be on display for five weeks. The exhibition will also feature in the Mural Arts Fest in LOVE Park on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“Art has the power to move people. If you’ve ever cried at a live song or laughed at a movie, you know the power of art,” Benner said.
“Art makes you feel, and I think a lot of people make changes, a lot of people make movement, a lot of people do things when they feel things.”