• "Suffragium" was one of 11 performance art projects located at polling locations in Milwaukee yesterday.
• The project was located at Centennial Hall, in the Central Library.
• The projects were produced by My Vote Performs, a non-partisan organization seeking to encourage voting.

"Oh dear, what can the matter be?" sang the woman in an old-fashioned dress. "Women are wanting to vote."

Voters outside Central Library Centennial Hall, 733 N. 8th St., were welcomed to their polling place yesterday evening by "Suffragium," a performance art project that included jazz singing and a video documenting historical events in American voting.

Singer Annie Denison served as a "living sculpture," said friend Jill Sebastian, a Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design sculpture professor who came up with the idea for "Suffragium." Sebastian enlisted the help of Denison, who performed on the steps of the library.

The performance was one of 11 that occurred at polling locations throughout Milwaukee. My Vote Performs, a non-partisan organization, produced the projects.

The purpose of MVP is to encourage voting, said Laura Maker, a volunteer for the group.

"It's about civic involvement and getting your voice heard," Maker said.

The State Elections Board (now the Government Accountability Board) and the Milwaukee Election Commission approved MVP, Maker said. The commission also approved each project concept and its polling site.

Inside the library, a video presentation of animated Milwaukee Public Library sculptures and historical factoids greeted voters as they headed to the polls.

"Reconsidering this history in Wisconsin reveals how fragile and precious our right to vote continues to be," read the project description on Sebastian's sign.

Denison said the 2008 presidential election is the most important election of she and her children's lifetimes.

"I have seen today that kids are voting," Denison said. "I'm so proud of my country right now."