Kyle Holbrook wanted people to be able to vote in the upcoming election, so he sprinkled his artwork around RiNo.
DENVER — RiNo has no shortage of artwork, and artist Kyle Holbrook wanted to add his political poster work to the collection.
Holbrook said he knows how popular the Arts District is and how many people visit, shop and live in the area. When we came up with the idea for our latest art series, we knew we wanted to bring it to RiNo.
“There’s a lot of murals and street art,” Holbrook said. “There’s also graffiti. There’s all kinds of art forms, but I think caricatures like these political posters are more suited to the field of street art.”
Holbrook said his goal is not only to allow people to vote in the upcoming election, but also to keep the peace.
“It’s about uniting the American people,” he said. “So no matter who wins the election, we remind people to continue to be nonviolent.”
He said he was concerned about rumors online of possible violence after the 2024 elections.
Holbrook said he wanted to incorporate some of the art style into his series, drawing inspiration from his recent trip to Paris. He said each painting takes just a few minutes to create, but the process of planning what to paint and where to hang it takes weeks of research.
“Many of them have peace symbols and have Denver and the Colorado mountains in the background,” Holbrook said. “Some people are saying Jokic will vote. I mean, it’s to remind people not only of the importance of voting and that it’s an important part of being an American, but to do it peacefully. That’s why they all have peace symbols.
Holbrook plans to host the series throughout the county, focusing on battleground states that will be critical to either presidential candidate’s victory in November. He said his trip was funded by a grant from the Moving the Lives of Kids (MLK) Community Mural Project. He said the project brings together art, education and children. Through this project, he was able to create murals in 49 states and 43 countries.
When he’s not creating political posters, he said he can focus his art on other social issues, such as gun violence or autism awareness.
“The important thing is to use art as a tool,” he says.
Holbrook said the next city in the series is being kept secret. He hopes that when they emerge they will surprise people and have a greater impact.
“The MLK Mural Project really wanted high visibility for our work,” Holbrook said. “This is to strategically place them in areas where a lot of people gather.”
He said he will continue putting up posters until Election Day.
“I hope it gives people a little laugh, but it also reminds us of the seriousness of the upcoming election,” Holbrook said. “No matter who wins, we are still Americans. We need to remain united and act nonviolently.”
