Artist Shepard Fairey Constructs Inspiring Voting Rights Mural in Milwaukee

​Shepard Fairey, an artist renowned for his famous 'Hope' image of Barack Obama as well as the artwork on the current cover of Time magazine, has been active in Milwaukee, WI, where, along with local artists and the support of Wallpapered City, he painted a large voting rights mural on the Colby Abbot Building, located on Milwaukee St. The mural reads: 'Voting Rights are Human Rights' and spans 7,400 square feet.

Hanson Dodge, a Milwaukee-based independent advertising agency with deep ties to the community, documented the making of this mural. As Chris Buhrman, executive creative director at the agency, noted: “Not only is this work a beautiful addition to the city, a citadel of street art, its message is more important than ever. The project promotes unity, equity and creativity in Milwaukee. And we’ll happily get behind anything that accomplishes that trifecta."

Shepard and his Obey Giant team worked with four Wisconsin artists - Tyanna Buie, Niki Johnson, Tom Jones and Claudio Martinez - along with Dyani White Hawk of Minnesota. In addition to Wallpapered City, local support was provided by Patti Keating-Kahn, Black Box Fund MKE, The Pfister and the Milwaukee Bucks. 

The mural is believed to be such a powerful expression that VISIT Milwaukee, which markets the Greater Milwaukee area, has added the Voting Rights mural to its list of many reasons to 'Visit Milwaukee'.