Tennessee Professor uses art to bring unity during election season
NASHVILLE, Tn.- Commuters across the Nashville area may have seen a unique kind of yard sign during this election season.
The signs aren’t for a particular candidate. Instead, they carry a simple powerful message, “get out and vote.”
As election day draws near, you don’t have to look far to see campaign signs from your car. But there’s another sign popping up around middle Tennessee that’s sending a different message. One that originates from the art studio of Paul Collins.
The Austin Peay Art Professor originally got the idea when the animosity of the 2020 election began to bother him. Collins says that constantly, “reading political news was making me crazy.”
Ao he turned to his best coping mechanism, making art!
Collins says he first thought, “I’ll make a cardinal because the cardinal is a messenger and just says vote. So I made a cardinal sign and I put it up in my neighborhood, and I just thought I’ll do this once a day until the election.”
Collins carves and paints each critter by hand.
The only thing in common throughout all the signs is the message. Collins says it’s important to him that they just say vote and not who to vote for. Because while we can’t determine the election’s outcome, we can encourage folks to let their voice be heard.
