WHY WE VOTE: An Installation of Signs Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Oct 11 2026

Location: 

Newark, New Jersey

WHY WE VOTE: An Installation of Signs
Located at Index Art Center Window Activation @73 Market Street in Newark, New Jersey
This exhibit is on display through the windows of the the gallery, 24 hours a day from Sunday, October 11 thru November 6, 2026.
On Sunday, October 11 from 1-5pm, in conjunction with Newark Open Studios, the gallery will be open for closer viewing.
The exhibit hopes to encourage and remind people of the significance and value of their vote.
The signs have been collected from an open call that declares, Why We Vote. The signs are both handmade and digital works and were collected from the Newark community as well as other communities across the United States.
For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/indexartcenter or contact Patricia Dahlman at watpaetki@aol.com
work shown above: Antoinette Ellis Williams, Patricia Payne,
Anne Q McKeown, Mary Pinto, and Adrienne Leban

Sign makers include: Carla Rae Johnson, Anne Q McKeown,
Rachel Must-Ettinger, Kimberly Miller, Vanessa L Smith,
Aaron Kleinbaum, Antoinette Ellis-Williams, Margaret Roleke
Rita Valley, Pauline Chernichaw, Mary Pinto, Patricia Payne, Alan Willard, Dave LaMorte, Adrienne Leban, Linda Street,
Anne Dushanko Dobek, Carlos Hernandez, Patricia Dahlman,
Michael Dal Cerro, Karin Bruckner, Patricia Reynolds, Barbara Lubliner, Marlena Vaccaro, Sarah Leon, Mireille Miller, and Vlada Jakubikova

Posted by Patricia Dahlman on Nov 2 2026

Staff rating: 

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Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Activates (people)Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
Amplifies (issue or campaign)Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign.  Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.
Strengthens (community)Strengthens, builds and celebrates community through ritual and/or symbol.
Provides (a useful service)Provides a useful social service.
Shifts (culture)Shifts the cultural landscape in order to imagine and enable change.

Timeframe For change

This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear long-term goal. Long-term goals tend to be things like: end racism; end homophobia; make the sun stand still in the sky. A campaign with a long-term goal also needs to have some kind of theory of change.
This project is to educate and remind people of the importance of their vote.

Notes

This project brought people across the US to make and state signs on WHY THEY VOTE. It was inspiring for the sign makers to exhibit in a group and share their enthusiasm to educate and hope for people to vote.