Be Heard—Vote! Seattle-Based Artist Kimberly Tieu Creates Chalk Art Outside MoPOP

As part of the Museum of Pop Culture's Be Heard—Vote! campaign encouraging civic participation in this year's election, Seattle-based artist Kimberly Tieu designed a chalk art message outside MoPOP's doors. Check out a timelapse of the creative process in the video above, and read on to learn a little bit more about Kimberly!

What's Your Artistic Background?

Kimberly: "My background is in graphic design. That's what I studied in school. I think I've always had an interest in typography, so I love working with type stuff like this. My experience in design has mostly been in print. I have some experience with chalk, but this is actually kind of new to me. But it's fun to create the design to do this and execute it. I work with MOD Pizza currently and what I do there is I design murals and any of the three-dimensional art they see in the stores. They like to customize each mural to every city we open in. Usually each store has one or two customized murals. In my spare time I like illustrations and typography."

How'd You'd Get Into Outdoor Mural Design?

Kimberly: "Back in the summer is when I got into murals. It was a super cool experience because I design murals for a living, but I never really execute them myself. It was really cool to do that and I feel like I really enjoy being part of the community and doing something for the community I live in. Working with Overall Creative it was really cool to network with a whole bunch of artists and meet so many other artists. I told them I would jump at any opportunity to do it again, so I thought this would be a cool thing to do."

• Follow Kimberly on Instagram: @Tieu.kimberly

Why Was This 'Vote' Project With MoPOP Attractive To You?

Kimberly: "The message behind the campaign, Be Heard-Vote! I think it's super important, this year especially, to get out and vote. I am an early voter. It was funny, the other day when I dropped it in the ballot box it felt like a monumental moment, but there was nobody around me. I was like, 'I did it!' But I think it's super important this year and I feel like it's hopeful and encouraging that a lot of people have already voted early this year. I just think it's an important message."

Why Did You Choose This Specific Design for MoPOP's 'Vote' Project?

Kimberly: "In typography design there's serif and sans-serif. More modern fonts have sans-serif, but I think I have an affinity for serif fonts because they're older and I feel like you can add a bit more style to them and it gives a sense of importance to the message you're trying to say or tell. It's hard to describe what my style is because I do a lot across the board, but I do like playing with letters and like how they can join together, and not just have them individually apart."

• Explore Kimberly's Work: kimberlytieu.com

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