Dan Polyak’s portfolio as a digital artist includes collaborations with local performers like Fall Out Boy, Chance the Rapper and contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
So, for his first mural, Polyak stuck to his native Chicago to encourage those traveling Halsted Street in the Northalsted area of Lake View to get out and vote in the Nov. 5 election.
“I really wanted a heavy traffic location in Northalsted,” says Polyak, of Andersonville. “Growing up in the city, my early to late 20s being spent in Northalsted, I knew engaging in the community would be really impactful.”
The spot at West Cornelia Avenue at North Halsted Street, on the building that houses Hydrate Nightclub, was perfect, he says. The 21-year-old LGBTQ+ institution and neighborhood staple regularly hosts drag shows and international DJs.
The 16-by-9-foot mural was designed to look like a collage of 16 posters plastered up with wheat paste, Polyak says.
The posters are in Polyak’s signature style, with bright colors, bold fonts and loud graphics. Slashed across the middle of the mural is what looks like a paper rip with the words, “You Betta Vote!” written across the entire mural. The saying was inspired by RuPaul’s phrase, “You Better Work,” from the 1993 song, “Supermodel (You Better Work).”
The word “You” is written in the colors of the Progress Pride flag, which includes the traditional rainbow Pride stripes accompanied by a striped arrow made up of pink, light blue, white, black and brown.
The words “Betta Vote!” are filled with Americana white stars on a blue background and red and white stripes.
HeadCount, a non-partisan organization that promotes voter registration, commissioned the mural.
The individual posters have sayings like “Because equal rights are what?! Fundamental,” “very registered, & very mindful” and “Do I look registered to vote to you?” One rectangle holds a QR code for viewers to scan and confirm their voter registration while entering a contest to visit RuPaul’s Drag Race Live in Las Vegas.
Morgan Howard, senior manager of artist relations for HeadCount, says working with Polyak was a no-brainer.
“Luckily this year, because it’s a big election year, we had more funding to back projects like this,” she says. “While we’re non-partisan, we’re also not here to silence or censor anyone. We let Dan come up with his own idea of what would resonate with his community.”
The mural was printed as a high-resolution image on a piece of vinyl and then adhered to the wall. Polyak says he worked with Windy City Signs and Graphics to get it done.
As for seeing his mural on the wall for the first time, Polyak says the experience was “surreal.”
“It was really breathtaking. It was a very humbling moment. It really took over that wall on Hydrate perfectly.”