Pillars of Democracy is a four-part series of large-scale mixed media portraits that foreground the role of women in the democratic process. These works underscore the struggle inherent in political progress and highlight the essential role artists play in movements for change. The allegorical figures—Liberty, Justice, Freedom, and Forward—are redrawn as first-time voters in Wisconsin. Grounded in the state’s diverse landscapes and progressive political legacy, each figure reflects how national values are lived, protected, and renewed at the local level.

Pillars of Democracy exists thanks to a community of people who believe in the power of civic action. Milwaukee artists: Lois Bielefeld, Nova Czarnecki, Celeste Contreras, Fran Korthof, Lizzy Lovas, Jill Sebastian, Brandom Terres-Sanchez, and Serena Weits contributed to the project. Nearly seventy volunteers from the League of Women Voters, PERSISTers, Girl Scouts, as well as friends old and new came to the studio to build art in solidarity over a ten month period. As lead artist, my focus through the buildout of Pillars of Democracy has been rooted in creating harmony—between artistic voices, across generations, and in community. 

Formally, the portraits draw on two powerful sources: a composition drawn from Bertha Boyd’s 1911 suffrage poster Votes for Women and the physical remnants from the installation of Shepard Fairey’s 2020 mural Voting Rights Are Human Rights. Built from discarded stencil paper and leftover spray paint, the works repurpose activist remnants into new icons of civic participation. The result is a layered visual dialogue between past and present—between suffrage-era design, contemporary protest, and the enduring power of the vote.

At its core, Pillars of Democracy declares that democracy is not abstract—it is built, sustained, and strengthened by each of us, right where we live. It lives in the choices we make and the values we uphold: liberty, autonomy, equity, peace, truth, justice, freedom, expression, access, unity, and an ever-present determination to move forward. This series honors voting as both inheritance and promise—a way to shape not only what we stand for, but where we’ve come from and who we dare to become.

To read more about the meaning and making of Pillars of Democracy, click here.