In cooperation with the UNLV Department of Art, Artists 4 Democracy will visit UNLV Oct. 15-18 for the first week of Nevada Early Voting.
This dynamic all-volunteer nonprofit organization was founded to bring together artists, art educators, and students to protect democracy by mobilizing the art community for non-partisan political action and civic engagement. The visit includes several collaborations with the department of art, the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, and the student-run organization A4 Zine Club.
At the Oct. 15 artist talk presented to Art 291 class, artists Deborah Aschheim, Marisa J. Futernick, Bronwyn Mauldin, and Lee Webster will share the story of how their diverse studio practices have evolved to include a focus on civic and community engagement. Art 291 is an undergraduate visual arts seminar which features a fall artist lecture series. The lectures are free and open to the public. All are invited to the talk, and to an art and voting party before the talk, with free pizza.
Artists 4 Democracy’s time on campus also will include classroom visits to facilitate discussions about the role of art and design as a means to create civic awareness and engagement. These conversations will be accompanied by hands-on activities, voter registration, and practical information on how to research one’s ballot and vote.
Deborah Aschheim will visit professor Ashley Doughty's Design & Media II class, where undergraduate Graphic Design students will make and present GOTV Nevada Instagram posts, focusing on ballot issues in Las Vegas, Clark County, and the State of Nevada. The students will specifically target their peers to encourage voter registration and inform new or young voters of issues that directly affect them. Select designs will become part of the Artists 4 Democracy library.
Programming includes free, public zine-making workshops at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art. Stop by to pick up your free copy of How do I Vote? Nevada zine by UNLV Art BFA student Niko Navalta, President of student-run organization A4 Zine Club, in collaboration with Artists 4 Democracy. Zines are independently published works, often printed and distributed in smaller batches and dedicated to sharing information and unconventional content.
The How do I Vote Nevada? zine includes practical information about how to check your voter registration and vote in Nevada this election season and will be distributed on campus and at other A4D Las Vegas events including a voting festival at the North Las Vegas campus of College of Southern Nevada (Oct. 16, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.) and CSN on West Charleston (Oct. 17, 11a.m.-2p.m). A digital version is available on the Artists 4 Democracy website.
Coinciding with Artists 4 Democracy’s visit, graduate art student Bailey Anderson has curated Vessel, a Grant Hall Gallery exhibition of work by students and community members reflecting on social and political issues.
Schedule of Free Public Events
Tuesday, Oct. 15
6 p.m. Voter Registration and Pizza Party, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Lobby
7 p.m. Artists 4 Democracy Artist Talk, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Auditorium
Wednesday, Oct. 16
11a.m. - 2 p.m. Voting festival at the North Las Vegas campus of College of Southern Nevada
12 - 1:30 p.m. Zine Workshop with A4Zine Club + Artists 4 Democracy, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
4 - 6 p.m. Visit an A4D Art Activity outside the Art Department, HFA, free event for students and faculty
Thursday, October 17
11 a.m. -2 p.m. Voting festival at the West Charleston campus of College of Southern Nevada
12 - 1 p.m. Zine Making Office Hours with A4D at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
Drop in hours for people who want help making zines. Free.
Friday, Oct.18 5 - 8 p.m.
Grant Hall Gallery, Reception for student curated exhibition Vessel, gallery discussion with the artists at 6 p.m.
A4D Table Event outside Grant Hall Gallery
Follow the College of Fine Arts YouTube channel and social media: @unlvtheear @unlvfinearts
About the Artists
Artists 4 Democracy is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization founded in the spirit of radical practicality to bring together artists, art educators, and students to protect democracy by mobilizing the art community for political action and civic engagement. Based in California, A4D organizes art-making workshops, campus activities, voter registration drives, artist talks, art sales, fundraisers, canvassing, and more to foster and protect our participatory democracy. Learn more at artists4democracy.com. @a4d_artistsfordemocracy
Deborah Aschheim makes installations, sculptures, drawings, digital and social media projects and temporary interventions into public space, often exploring memory and place. She was a 2015 Visiting Artist at UNLV, and in 2019-2020 she was Creative Strategist/Artist in Residence for LA County Registrar-Recorder, engaging historically underrepresented communities of voters across the largest and most diverse electoral district in the US. deborahaschheim.com, @365daysofvoters
Zines in Bronwyn Mauldin’s “Democracy Series” are available in bookstores and libraries across the US and in a time capsule. When she's not making zines she heads the research and evaluation division at the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. Mauldin has been an artist in residence at Mesa Verde National Park, Denali National Park, and Kulturni Centar REX in Belgrade, Serbia. bronwynmauldin.com, @guerrillareads
Lee Webster is an artist and moving image archival researcher whose work in experimental documentary often weaves a line of personal narrative with a moment of social or historical relevance. Webster received her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, is the recipient of an Art Matters Foundation grant, and has exhibited in the Texas Biennial, Fusebox Festival, Microscope Gallery in Brooklyn, and other venues in the U.S. and abroad. leewebster.com @lee_kerby_webster
Marisa J. Futernick is an artist and writer whose work explores “Americanness” and the promise of the American Dream, intertwining the personal with the historical and fact with fiction. Futernick received her MFA from the Royal Academy Schools in London and her BA from Yale University. She has exhibited widely (including at UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art)and has published numerous artist’s books including 13 Presidents, How I Taught Umberto Eco to Love the Bomb, and The Watergate Complex. marisafuternick.com @marisafuternick
A4 Zine Club is UNLV’s premier zine club and is committed to being an inclusive, welcoming community and space for people to learn about, create, and support zines. A4 Zine Club supports zines and their creators by hosting guest speakers, workshops, and other events through partnerships with the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and the Las Vegas Zine Library. @a4zineclub
Niko Navalta is a UNLV Honors and BFA student in the Department of Art. He is the president of the student-run organization A4 Zine Club and, as an Artists 4 Democracy intern, the creator of the "How Do I Vote?" and "Why Should I Vote?" minizines. In his artwork, they explore themes of storytelling and identity.
About the UNLV Department of Art
The Department of Art at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a distinctive hub within the College of Fine Arts for visual art, graphic design, and art history. The Department of Art empowers this generation of artists by providing curricula and programs for over 2,000 students a year. 650 of these students major in art, graphic design, and art history. Offerings include courses that activate visual culture and technology, and campus-wide events such as Art Walk, Visiting Artist lecture series, workshops, exhibitions, and a Spring visiting artist program.
The Department of Art strives to create a model for professional development in all areas of the arts, design, and relevant histories, to teach the diversity of culture and identity in the U.S. and its democratic values, and to prepare graduates for success in competitive and evolving communities through access to fabrication equipment, creative and critical contexts, and opportunities for exhibition and engagement linked with partners in Las Vegas and beyond. UNLV Department of Art Facebook Page @unlvtheear
About the UNLV College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.
