Aug 26, 2008

The Power of Inspiration

You may like him or not, but if there is something you can't deny about Barack Obama is his charisma and therefore his capacity to inspire people.

While his rival is trying to downplay that charisma as something shallow, I personally think it's his biggest asset. In a country that has been systematically divided during the last 8 years, someone that can bring people together and get people inspire to actually do something can be very powerful.

Inspiring people to do, to act on their creativity and to be an agent of change -not to just ask for it-, it is not a minor trait: you can get a lot done with just that.

The "Manifest Hope" is another good example on how his figure and his campaign boost creativity and inspiration. Their goal is to "to amplify and motivate the grass roots movement surrounding the Obama Campaign. The Manifest Hope Gallery highlights the central themes of the progressive grass-roots movement- Hope Change, Progress, Unity and Patriotism."

For that reason "Manifest Hope" with Moveon.org as a partner came up with a contest for artists, "inviting all artists to compete for a chance to present their works alongside the acclaimed and celebrated artists".

More than 1000 pieces of art were submitted and here are some of the winners and finalists.

Winner - Stars and Stripes - Phil Fung from Miami, FL
Obama Stripes

Finalist - Hussein (Handsome One)- Ian Simmons from Chicago, IL
The handsome one
Finalist - Encompass - Vincent Cordero from Lake Balboa, CA

Finalist - Earth for OBAMA - Walter Gurbo from Gilbertsville, NY

Finalist - Embrace for the White House - Ben Dutro from San Francisco, CA


The judges -which included Guggenheim Modern Art Curator Nancy Spector, multi-platinum recording artist Moby, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, artist Shep Fairey and many more- chose 5 winners and 21 finalists. Winners are now part of the Manifest Hope Gallery that is open to the public in Denver, CO at the Democratic National Convention, until Thursday (August 28th, 2008) between the hours of 10:00 am - 5:00 pm.

At the gallery in Denver you can also find some of the finest modern contemporary artists, acclaimed NY painters and sculptors, activated grass roots and street artists, and present the most widely recognized pieces seen throughout the 2008 presidential primary campaign, as well as newly commissioned works and previous works on loan from some of the United States top artists.

Winners and finalists of the contest are also online with a link to their its eBay page where anyone can bid to acquire one. Artists have pledged to donate the proceeds from this auction to progressive efforts aimed at helping Obama win this November.

Democrat, Republican or independant, you may want to visit the online gallery anyway and see for yourself how different artists were inspired by this challenge.

PS: The poster at the top is also one of the winners; titled "United/Change" by Shawn Hazen from Chicago, IL

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm not inspired. Actually, I didn't read it :) Just being creative to find a way to say Happy Birthday.

Rob