Exhibition: February 9 – March 12, 2021

The Grunwald Gallery at Indiana University is pleased to present Empowering the Women’s Vote and 63 Suffragists of Color. Every four years since 2000, AIGA (the leading professional organization for design) has activated its community of designers across the U.S. and beyond to Get Out the Vote. The campaign is part of Design for Democracy, an AIGA initiative to increase civic participation through design.

In 2020, AIGA recognizes the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote in 1920 with a special edition of Get Out the Vote: Empowering the Women’s Vote. It commemorates the first legislation for women’s voting rights. Not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 were voting rights of all women protected and enforced.

The collection of posters, designed by AIGA members, will be accompanied by a special commemorative quilt by Bloomington artist Patricia Coleman. The quilt, titled “63 Suffragists of Color” highlights 63 suffragists including Native Americans, Latinx, Asians, and women of other backgrounds. The ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920 allowed white women in the U.S. to vote, but it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that Black people were ensured their voting rights. Suffragists are at work today to ensure that all Americans can exercise their right to vote.

The AIGA identity was designed by studio of Christine Wisnieski, and the Empowering the Women's Vote identity and timeline was designed by Kelly Salchow MacArthur and Nancy Skolos. Special thanks to the Design for Democracy Committee, chaired by Frances Yllana, for organizing the 2020 Get Out the Vote effort, as well as Kelly Salchow MacArthur and Nancy Skolos for initiating the Get Out the Vote: Empowering the Women’s Vote project. View the Key Moments in Voting Rights + Women's Fight for Equality Timeline.

AIGA is the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design—with more than 70 chapters and more than 18,000 members—we advance design as a professional craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force. From content that defines the global practice to events that connect and catalyze, we work to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines on business, society, and our collective future.

EXHIBITION SPONSORS

This exhibition is supported by Indiana University’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research. The Grunwald Gallery would also like thank Patricia Coleman for lending her quilt 63 Suffragists of Color, and to the AIGA Empowering the Women’s Vote team.