Buttons made at the VOTE Fearlessly installation.

VOTE (Fearlessly)! Puts Democracy on Display at UMD

Students gather around the VOTE (Fearlessly)! pop-up in Tawes Plaza.

In partnership with TerpsVote, VOTE (Fearlessly)! is a nonpartisan mobile pop-up is dedicated to help our Terp community register to vote, understand the basics of election day and voting out of state, and serve as a shared civic space around the November 2024 General Election. Shaped like a voting booth, it’s an active space for voter education during the day, with Terps supporting Terps in making a voting plan; at night, the pop-up illuminates as a striking reminder of one of our greatest freedoms.

Just like democracy, VOTE (Fearlessly)! is participatory, with opportunities for students to share their civic pride and add to the conversation through different forms of public art. With many UMD students voting for the first time, VOTE (Fearlessly)! leans into UMD’s academic mission to create a better understanding of the voting process and empower Terps to make their voices count.

Developed by faculty, students, alums and staff from the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in partnership with the College of Arts and Humanities, TerpsVote, Maryland Democracy Initiative and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, the mobile pop up is part of UMD’s Arts for All Creative Placemaking initiative, which engages the University of Maryland community through the arts.

DEBUT AND SCHEDULE:

Currently on display through November 11, 2024.

VOTE (Fearlessly)! was launched on September 4, 2024 and appeared on display in Tawes Plaza as part of The Clarice's NextNOW Fest. It will migrate around campus throughout the election season until November 11, 2024. Find out where Vote (Fearlessly!) pop-up will appear on campus this fall!

For more information, contact Craig Kier, Director of UMD's Arts for All Initiative, at ckier@umd.edu.

More About the Exhibition:

A student holds a button they made at the VOTE (Fearlessly) pop-up that says "I vote for equality."

VOTE (Fearlessly)! builds on ideas developed by the Spring 2024 Creative Placemaking Design and Democracy studio, which focused on creating voter engagement through information design, placemaking and public art. A gallery of the design process and resulting concepts is on view at the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation’s Linear Gallery beginning September 4, with a gallery talk September 25, 2024.