If you don’t know Shepard Fairey’s name, you probably should. He is the man who created the now iconic Barack Obama “Hope” poster that quickly became the face of the 2008 presidential election. The stylized red, white and blue poster was seen by many as an image of… well… hope after eight years under George Bush Jr.
With so much division in the country today, the idea behind the poster has never been more important than it is now. There seems to be a great deal of hate as well as an equal amount of fear among the people of our great nation. Fairey and fellow artists Jessica Sabogal and Ernesto Yerena noticed this and decided to take action.
The trio launched a Kickstarter campaign to promote new images that they have created in an effort to “reject the hate, fear, and open racism,” that they witnessed during the 2016 presidential campaign. Their plan is to distribute as many of their images as possible so that they blanket Washington like a tide of peace and hope for the future.
The artwork has already been completed, in collaboration with a group of photographers. It was commissioned by the Amplifier Foundation, a group which aims to help promote smaller, grassroots organizations. The Kickstarter campaign was started so that the group has a way to get the images to the people.
They plan to use the money (more than $330,000 so far) to take out full-page ads in major newspapers so that people can simply carry them with them to the inauguration and open up the paper and display the image. And boom, just like that the message will be sent. Instant art. They plan to purchase six advertisements in major newspapers and will be handing out large placards in yet-to-be-determined drop spots all over the capital. If that’s not enough, you can also download the images for free. They couldn’t make it easier for your voice to be heard.
If you still want to donate, but don’t want to break the bank. A donation of $5 will get a postcard of one of the images mailed to President Donald Trump when he takes office. If anything, it will remind the man set to lead our country about the great responsibility ahead of him.
The artist’s work isn’t over after Trump’s inauguration, Amplifier is planning partnerships with schools, companies and Americans from Tacoma to Tuscaloosa. Their goal is to open up discourse about all of the questions that are swirling around this country. Liberal, conservative, democrat, republic, red, blue, it doesn’t matter. We are all in this together and Fairey and his friends hope that we can find a way to work together and move on as one. We all need a little hope.
