Still true to her activist roots, folk musician Joan Baez is throwing her art behind Kamala Harris’s U.S. presidential run.
This week, Baez hit the morning talk show circuit to discuss Kamala Harris: Change Is Gonna Come, an edition of 500 prints of her 2020 acrylic on canvas, titled Kamala Harris. All net proceeds from these works, priced at $1,000 each, will benefit the Harris-Walz campaign. To further get out the vote, Baez has also shared an acoustic version of “America The Beautiful.” In it, she sings “crown thy good with sisterhood” rather than “brotherhood.”
This 36-by-24 inch painting debuted amongst Baez’s 2021 exhibition “Mischief Makers 2” at Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley, California. Though better known for her music, Baez painted throughout her rise to stardom during the 1960s—and started drawing even earlier. Last year, she released Am I Pretty When I Fly?, a book exploring the upside-down drawing practice through which she accesses her subconscious.
“Mischief Makers 2” followed Baez’s 2017 exhibition, “Mischief Makers,” with the same gallery. This ongoing series depicts the past century’s nonviolent icons, including, in the first show, portraits of herself and Bob Dylan, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malala Yousafzai, and more.
Joan Baez, Kamala Harris (2020). Courtesy of Joan Baez.
In 2021, Kamala Harris debuted alongside portraits of Coretta Scott King, Anthony Fauci, and Baez’s activist parents. The strong yet sensitive portrait celebrates her inauguration as Vice President.
“Dear Senator Harris,” Baez stated her 2020 Facebook post sharing the work. “What a joy to see your face as you cheerfully bring compassion and empathy, decency, and bravery—the virtues which should define us as a people—back into our discourse and our lives. It is our good fortune that you have also proven to be a badass.” The painting has sold.
On Morning Joe, Baez explained that she’s throwing her support behind Harris because she thinks that, as a woman, the Vice President may be more likely to take a nonviolent approach to international policy. “Governments don’t pick up on the fact that each time they drop a bomb on somebody, they solidify the determination on the other side to retaliate,” Baez remarked on air.
“It’s impossible to be a nonviolent president,” Baez elaborated in a statement emailed to Artnet News. “A president is the commander in chief of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. But I think Kamala Harris is already fighting for more intelligent and practical policies, and with her personal strength could more intelligently deal with conflicts and alleviate the suffering that comes in their wake. Certainly, with more empathy than her opponent.”
Baez’s 20-by-16 inch signed and numbered prints are available on her website.