Bernie 2020
One of the Bernie Sanders’ campaign’s biggest challenges is getting Bernie’s message out in the world where it can be seen and heard. Sure, he’s got recognition from his 2016 run, but his core message is often glazed over in the media and we know that when most people hear it, they have a hard time disagreeing. We wanted a way to put that message front and center for voters in our city, which is a liberal hub for Missouri. For a scrappy group of progressives with limited funds and a friend with a wall, we knew a mural would be a big attention grabber for our cause.
I designed a mural that would be simple, clear and effective. We organized a GoFundMe to buy paint and supplies. And I organized a small group of people to help get the mural done in the time we had before it got too cold for the paint to stick— which turned out to be a single weekend.
Part passion project, part political statement, part community-building exercise. This mural rallied such a strong reaction from our members, and Kansas City residents in general. From honking and cheering from cars driving past, to 3.4k upvotes on reddit, recognition from the national branch of Our Revolution, to features on the People for Bernie Sanders and Artists for Bernie Sanders. Painting this mural and getting to drive by it every day has been a dream come true.
But it didn’t end there. A few months later, the Bernie Campaign in Missouri had me come out and paint a mural on the windows of their St. Louis office. It was a super short turnaround, but I was able to make my first trip to St. Louis and give Missouri it’s second “Not Me. Us” mural.
