It was impossible not to notice the swarms of media groups covering campus this weekend. But between the madness of students and reporters alike are seven politically informed art installations.

With the increased publicity and political discussions on campus, Art Council worked with the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts students to install political art pieces around campus. They reflected not only a variety of artistic genres but also a variety of political beliefs and approaches to discussing issues related to voting.

Art Council sent out a call for proposals for the installations earlier in the semester. A panel of Art Council members, Washington University Political Review (WUPR) members and a Campus Life staff member came together to choose proposals, as well as to give the artists suggestions for improvements.

“We really wanted to create a way for students to express themselves visually,” Art Council president and senior Alyse Gellis said. Art Council serves as a bridge between art students and Sam Fox faculty and administrators, working also to bring Sam Fox student artwork onto main campus.

Senior Caroline Brewer, senior Julia Curbera, sophomore Molly Dower, senior Elizabeth Prutz and junior Jack Radley created “(Bal)lot of Grass,” located on the lawn outside the Danforth University Center.

“As white students of privilege, we believe that educating ourselves about the social and political issues faced by our city is a fundamental way to exercise mindful citizenship,” according to the installation’s description.

Here, they present the structure of a voting booth covered in grass, collected from vacant lots in North St. Louis that are up for development by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Hoping to raise awareness and call into question the history of “displacement and disruption of African-American communities through urban development,” viewers were encouraged to send themselves a blade of grass as a reminder to vote and stay informed.

The courtyard of the Mallinckrodt Center houses “The Wall,” a provocative homage to the “visual culture and tradition of free speech and radicalism, […] in direct opposition to the sterilization on Washington University’s campus” by Shannon Levin and Noah Baker.

Using sexualized and graphic images, the work displays the artists’ personal biases and the “unique challenge of disliking both [candidates].”

Across Mudd Field is “Neighborhood Watch,” a white picket fence by Katie Yun. As a symbol of middle-class suburbia, Yun increases the size of the picket fence to personify its “threatening and indomitable” presence. “By only taping the printer paper white picket fence, the once formidable image will crumble due to humidity, water exposure, touch, etc. pointing to the fallacy of the American Dream,” Yun said.

Rachel Healey, Lauren Blackburn and Bowie Chen said their work was to remind students of the “importance and reality of voting.” By creating an eye-catching installation, “Vote, Dammit,” they hope to bring voting into the “sphere of everyday college life.” Individual letters spelling out “VOTE!” are visible from a distance, and as you get closer, the letters display statistics and comments about voting.

In the courtyard between the Kepner Art Museum and the Sam Fox School is Savannah Bustillo’s “Coco Wire.” Bustillo disrupts the stereotypical image of shoes hanging from telephone wires by using high fashion shoes that “evoke luxury,” asking the viewer to question their associations with the image. “Coco Wire” prompts the viewer to explore the assumptions, biases and stereotypes that “usually include hyper-masculine portrayals of people of color from ‘broken homes,’ illegal immigrants, those with poor education, and those from a low economic class.”

At night, “How Fast We Are” by Yoon Hong and Caroline Yoo is projected in Mallinckrodt Courtyard. This gives the installation series a continuous aspect, engaging students in the political discussion after dark.

Art Council also tabled at the Debate Fair yesterday, giving them an opportunity to explain the installation to students and bring up the important issues they are tackling.

“Art really provides a different way for people to express themselves,” Gellis said. “[As] a visual language…people process it differently in their brain than just verbal language.”