Political posters have a long history as powerful tools for mobilizing public sentiment, from the iconic “I Want You” Uncle Sam recruitment poster during World War I to Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” image for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. With bold visuals and clear messaging, they’ve galvanized public sentiment and inspired political action across generations.
The Norman Rockwell Museum’s Unity Project 2024 is an initiative following in the footsteps of this legacy, aimed at promoting civic engagement through art and encouraging voter participation in the upcoming presidential election. The project commissioned six illustrators—Monica Ahanonu, Timothy Goodman, Edel Rodriguez, Gary Taxali, Shar Tui’asoa, and Lisk Feng—to create work dedicated to an inclusive vision of America where all voices are heard, recognizing the crucial role illustration plays in shaping cultural narratives.
“Voting is an essential act of democratic participation, one that Americans have fought for generations to preserve and expand,” says Laurie Moffatt, the director and CEO of the museum. “This initiative carries forward and deepens our museum’s commitment to a broadly inclusive democracy in which the voices of all people are valued and heard.”
“Every vote counts like a small drop of water,” says Lisk Feng, whose Vote illustration is on this month’s cover. “The more people who vote, the louder our collective voice becomes, and change starts to happen.”
Vote is a digital illustration featuring a group of young people painting a political mural on a busy city corner. The scene brims with everyday figures—students, businesspeople, mothers with children, musicians, and cyclists. Splattered paint, spilled cans, dirty brushes, pigeon tracks, and a howling dog amplify the disorder. The piece vibrates with energy and noise, portraying the complexities of American democracy and the turbulent, collective journey toward political change.
“I wanted to make it an expressive situation,” Feng says. As a professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, she feels connected to young people’s anger and frustration with the current political climate. “They want their voices to be heard,” she says. Through her art, she hopes to encourage them to speak their truths and create the change they seek. “I want everybody to participate as much as they can because their opinions are important,” she says.
Looking back through history, in every country, she says young people are the most powerful change-making leaders. Originally from China, Feng considers the so-called white paper protests in Shanghai in 2022. City residents, primarily students and young professionals, led the protests against strict COVID-19 lockdowns. Holding blank sheets of paper to symbolize censorship, they gathered in public spaces to call for greater freedoms. The movement spread nationwide. Feng sees the same passion in young people in America.
Since immigrating to the US in 2012, Feng’s cultural heritage has remained a strong influence on her work. She blends the traditional, technical skills from her Chinese education with the individualized, feminist, and antiracist art scene of New York City, describing the move as a door-opening experience.
Much of Feng’s artwork consists of peaceful, fictional scenes (she is the author of several children’s books), often inspired by her connection to nature. “Nature is the biggest healer for me,” she says. “I tend to use my artwork to cure myself.” But recently, her work has taken a different direction. “This time I want to express something more,” she says.
“Even though it’s a voting propaganda poster, it’s still hopeful,” Feng says. She hopes viewers of her work feel its energy and are inspired. “I want people to feel something energetic or be encouraged that they can make their voice heard.”