The votes are in!

Taking first place: “peace.”

Members of the public cast over 24,000 votes to select the top 50 designs from among the nearly 300 artist-created yard sign submissions. You can have one of these winning 50 designs in your very own yard, for $20 shipped. Click on "order this sign" near the design of your choice, and we’ll pass you through to the My Yard Our Message shop at CafePress.com. When you’re finished buying a sign, be sure to plot its location on our Google map, so we can keep track of where the signs end up.

How did we get here?

My Yard Our Message is a user-created yard sign project, launched in conjunction with the United States presidential election. The project is divided into three phases: in June 2008, artists and designers were invited to submit political yard sign designs exploring ideas about what it means to actively participate in a democracy. Beginning July 1, with design submitted, and a month-long public voting process began, where browsers could cast votes for their favorite yard signs. And now that the citizenry has spoken, the top 50 vote-getting designs are available for individual purchase.

In addition, the Walker Art Center and mnartists.org will print the winning yard signs and place them in neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities metro area, including those immediately surrounding the site of the Republican National Convention. St. Paul neighborhoods that will serve as outdoor sign galleries include Dayton’s Bluff, sponsored by the District 4 Community Council, and the West Side, sponsored by the West Side Citizens Organization. Seward, organized by the Seward Neighborhood Group, will serve as the Minneapolis gallery neighborhood.

My Yard our Message is part of larger community initiative called The UnConvention. A non-partisan collective of citizens and cultural institutions, The UnConvention provides a forum for promoting the democratic and free exchange of ideas during and after the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota from September 1-4, 2008.

The original call for entries is available on mnartists.org. My Yard Our Message is a project conceived by Scott Sayre, is produced by the Walker Art Center and mnartists.org in collaboration with The UnConvention.