Local artists want Democrats to button up. And talk about it.
Ten Denver artists have created commemorative buttons depicting the Democratic Donkey enjoying itself around the city, under a project called Dems Do Denver.
“I was thinking about how Denver could use the convention spotlight to share news about the city’s vibrant art scene,” says project organizer Julie Byerlein.
She says she hopes everyone gets a kick out of the donkeys and that Dems Do Denver “sparks conversations about Denver’s art scene and the talented artists that bring it alive.”
Byerlein is a brand- and business-building expert and art-lover who wanted to get local artists involved in the political process without it being too political. “Conventions and buttons go together,” she says.
At the beginning of the summer, she contacted local artists she’s met over the years, asked them to participate, and word grew. In the end, 10 artists — cartoonists, illustrators, painters and photographers — committed to the project. They are Bill Amundson, Sharon Brown, Rachelle Erickson, Sharon Feder, Jill Hadley-Hooper, Matt Holman, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Katie Taft, Tracy Weil and Eric Zimmer.
Their cool creations, most on 1 1/2-inch square pins, range from a caricature of a donkey skiing to a painting of a donkey and its shadow at Confluence Park, to a drawing of the animal peeking over the Hamilton Wing of the Denver Art Museum.
“My button has a donkey in a suit standing in front of the “Articulated Wall,” by Herbert Bayer,” says photographer Katie Taft. She makes human/animal hybrid sculptures and photographs them out at various locations. With the world’s eyes on Denver during the Democratic convention, Taft hopes the buttons brings the art world in Denver “the recognition we deserve.”
Artist and illustrator Eric Zimmer says he “used the donkey in an unconventional way (no pun intended), in celebration of the Rocky Mountain region.”
His button depicts the donkey hiking along the Front Range, using walking poles.
Buttons have been pinned to political campaigns as far back as George Washington. According to several political websites, he and his supporters wore the brass clothing pin that read “G.W.-Long Live the President.”
The first celluloid button supported William McKinley’s run in 1896. Since then, buttons have held thousands of names, slogans and pictures.
The donkey didn’t become part of official political parlance until 1828, when Andrew Jackson’s opponents referred to him as a jackass. The candidate decided to use that name-calling to further his cause and made the donkey his mascot.
There are 13 buttons in the series. They sell for $4 each, or $44 for the set. The Denver Convention Host Committee will receive 10 percent of sales.
Check out the buttons in person at all three Tattered Cover locations, Meininger’s Art Supply, The Artisan Center in Cherry Creek North, the Denver Art Museum gift shops and Paper Talk in the Old South Pearl neighborhood. Visit demsdodenver for additional locations, or to purchase the buttons online.
“We are also offering a special delivery service to 14 downtown hotels for convention attendees,” Byerlein says.
