FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: POSTERS FROM PROGRESSIVE PRINT SHOPS, 1960s - PRESENT

October 8 – November 9, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday, October 12, 5-7 PM

Oppositional presses have been challenging the status quo in the United States since Benjamin Franklin helped form the first printers' union in the colonial period. From Quaker broadsides against slavery to posters supporting affirmative action, printers have put ink to paper in the struggle for peace and justice. Political posters held a venerable position as one of the principal modes of dissent in the nineteenth century, and they were widespread during the 1930s and 1940s until the chilling atmosphere of McCarthyism in the 1950s stifled the voices of protest. Their popularity and importance in the United States was revived during the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, and posters continue to enliven movements for social change today.

Produced by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in conjunction with the Progressive Printers Network, this exhibition presents prints from printshops throughout the United States and Canada addressing issues ranging from women's rights to the anti-Apartheid movement. By focusing on the printshops, the exhibition examines a unique approach to organizing for social change through collective work.

Image: "Stop the Gulf War Now!" Glenn Ruga; Common Wealth Printing Co. Inc./Aldebaron. Offset,1991. Massachusetts, Hadley.