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19th Amendment
Occasionally on View
About the Art
Using cut-out words and letters from political signs, Baird recreates the opening sentence of the 19th Amendment. This legislation, which took effect in 1920, recognized women’s right to vote. The sentence reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
On her use of political yard signs, Baird stated: “They sprout from residential lawns and along city streets. They stand in both victory and defeat, awaiting harvest and a one-way trip to the landfill. I intercept them and reduce them to fragments of text. I reassemble the fragments to reveal larger truths beyond the conflicting positions they represent.”
FEATURED IMAGE
Shelley Brenner Baird (American, born 1950), 19th Amendment, 2019, mixed media, 96 x 72 inches (243.8 x 182.9 cm). Gift of Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell, 2026.23
