Bay Area Artists Cast A Beacon To Help Voters Find Ballot Boxes

OAKLAND, CA — Illuminating, 70-foot tall moving figures holding civil rights era and contemporary voting signs were projected onto the Alameda Courthouse Sunday night. The beacon was designed and cast by local Bay Area artists to beckon Oakland voters to the city's official ballot drop box.

Filmed and edited by lead artist Packard Jennings, the video imagery was meant to fuse the 2020 election with the Civil Rights Movement.

The luminous and tall figures cast upon government buildings over the past few weeks transitioned from black to white to full color, as they rose up in slow motion from crouching and standing positions.

Some of the historic signs they held demanded "Voting Rights Now," with more contemporary signs reading "866 OUR-VOTE: Call or Text if You Have Questions or Problems."

The Bay Area artists were motivated by community members who were having trouble finding their ballot box.

"Election experts are saying it's too late to mail in your ballot," A statement from Project Your Vote reads. "To assure your vote gets counted, it's best t drop it in a special ballot box...Project Your Vote provides a beacon to locate the boxes."

These striking projections were also cast upon Oakland City Hall last weekend.

And it wasn't just the Bay Area that saw these towering images, 63 artists in New York, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Nevada also cast vote projections.

The founding artists offered a free projection kit to any artist in any state that wanted to cast the images in their area.

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