Mark Howard

My personal volunteering highlight:

I have been advocating for progressive ideals since I started my first student newspaper in high school. Most of my 20 year professional career has been in media marketing, where I have developed a deep understanding of how the media can be both useful and harmful.

Last year I created the McCain-NOPE poster/sticker and distributed them nationwide. I gave some to such diverse folks as David Axelrod and Sarah Silverman. I even gave some to Shepard Fairey who did the Obama-HOPE poster that I was parodying.

Best of all, I gave away thousands of stickers - far more than I sold - to strangers on the street and at political events. It was exhilarating to see the appreciation people had and their eagerness to help spread the word that McCain was the wrong choice for America, and that Obama truly represented the change we needed.

What motivates me:

I knew that I wanted to be an artist from the time I was 12 years old. Then, in 1967, Martin Luther King delivered a speech entitled "Beyond Vietnam." It was a revelation to me, particularly when he said...

"We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative means of protest possible."

I know he didn't mean that as a call for artists to step up and become more involved, but that's the way I took it at the time. I had become radicalized, and I knew that from that time on at least some part of my work had to be dedicated to social progress. I had come to view art as the most effective means of engaging people for a positive purpose.

Staying active is easy when there is so much to be done. As long as we breathe we have an obligation to contribute and give back.

How I try to motivate others:

As an artist, communication is the core of what I do. My efforts to motivate others is predominately focused on creating work that makes people feel the pain and the hope in one another, and the need for us all to work together to shape the world we desire.

Additionally, I study the primary modes of communication in our culture - the media - and work to inform others of the critical need to restore honesty and integrity to the process.

Beyond that, I never stop taking to people about the need to be involved with our government and our neighbors - no matter how hard they try to stop me. ;-)

Where I see myself in five years:

In times past, artists were usually an important part of any social movement. They can be far more persuasive than the typical speechifying that dominates most political interactions. Art connects with people at a deeper, more intuitive level. Those ties seem to have been weakened in recent times, in part because of the commercialization of the most popular mediums.

If I can play a role in bringing together activists and artists, that would be the most satisfying and productive accomplishment I can imagine.

My suggested bumper sticker slogan for the Stand with Dr. Dean campaign:

Universal Healthcare: The Cure For What Ails U.S.