The Landscape
Drivers across the Missouri interstate often see political billboards or signage with politicized messages. Many messages are anti-abortion, sponsored by conservative Christian groups or right-wing PACS. The nationally acclaimed I-70 Sign Show public-art project has since 2014 installed billboard artworks with a playful nonpartisan mission of sparking conversation around blue-versus-red-state issues. With the presidential election, however, the lack of representation of the “blue” side of that dialogue seems especially pointed. For this reason, the Sign Show is presenting a special installation of artist Aleksandra Mir's "Keep Abortion Legal."
The Art
Mir created "Keep Abortion Legal" in 2005 in response to the aggressive rhetoric and imagery of anti-abortion protests. Her design is simple: a basic font in pastel hues asserts support for an existing federal law. It is free for anyone to use. Yet this iconic work remains controversial and testifies to how divided the nation is on the issue of abortion. Attempts to display the design in public, institutional or corporate art contexts have been discouraged or cancelled and, as recently as 2016, censored.
Billboard are one of the few places where, offline, we encounter messages that challenge our taste and values. Mir's "Keep Abortion Legal" gives the intestate audience a point of view that, so far, does not exist in the billboard landscape. The Sign Show has a special interest in testing the billboard advertising landscape as a true marketplace of ideas. What will happen when a lone pro-choice message stands up with (or against) the dominant ad campaigns of the right wing?
What We Need
Given President Trump's swift and erratic decision-making and the appointment of conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, we want to see Mir's work installed by June 1.
The Sign Show has reserved a billboard with a company that supports free speech and will install the Mir artwork. (Two of the three regional and national sign companies we contacted declined to install Keep Abortion Legal for political and religious reasons.)
This artwork, installed in June and July, will be seen by an estimated total of 1 million people.
All we need are the funds to make this happen!
Most of our $7,500 fundraising goal goes toward billboard production and installation.
The rest covers the printing and distribution of bumper stickers, postcards, silkscreen prints, and t-shirts for our supporters, as well as campaign processing fees.
There are NO administrative costs. The artist does NOT ask for any payments or royalties for this work but grants everyone free and unlimited use of this design. Any funds raised beyond our goal go toward having Keep Abortion Legal installed for a longer period in Missouri or, if possible, adding an additional sign for the artwork elsewhere in the Midwest. We sincerely hope you will support this important installation!
$3,200: rental of 16 x 50 foot billboard (1,600 per month)
$2,000: billboard vinyl, printing and installation
$1,500: sticker, postcard, t-shirt, and poster production
$800: crowdfunding fees, reward costs and contingencies
What You Get
Project supporters can receive:
_postcards featuring a photograph of the KEEP ABORTION LEGAL billboard installed on I-70
_limited-edition KEEP ABORTION LEGAL bumper stickers
_limited-edition KEEP ABORTION LEGAL silkscreen prints
_high-quality white t-shirts with the KEEP ABORTION LEGAL slogan
Each of these perks is a mass-produced artwork, published by the I-70 Sign Show project using artist Aleksandra Mir's open-source design.
And in addition to receiving a collectable piece of art ephemera, you gain the invaluable satisfaction of supporting the arts, women's rights, freedom of expression, and free speech!
The Impact
Every week, an average of 130,000 vehicles will pass the billboard we rent. This means that over two months more than a million people will see the "Keep Abortion Legal" artwork! Add to this number a Midwestern context where pro-life messages are rarely—if ever—displayed publicly, and you can calculate the significance of this installation and the power of Mir's design.
PLUS ... even after the billboard is deinstalled, the project continues in the form and distribution of "Keep Abortion Legal" postcards, stickers, posters, and t-shirts. Documentation of all aspects of the Aleksandra Mir installation will be featured on the I-70 Sign Show website.
Other Ways You Can Help
We realize that giving money is not always an option. But there are other ways you can help!
Please share this page with friends and organizations who support free speech, right to privacy, women's rights, and the arts!
Email us at info(at)i70signshow(dot)org for more information or if you have any questions.
Enormous thanks to artist Aleksandra Mir for making her design open source and for participating in the I-70 Sign Show!
Links:
http://i70signshow.org/
https://www.aleksandramir.info/projects/keep-ab...
