Gail Anderson on Marian Wright Edelman: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a poster designed by Gail Anderson with a quote by Marian Wright Edelman. This poster has a white background with black text and graphics. The poster depicts two large hands, one descending from the top margin and pointing down and one emerging from the poster’s bottom margin and pointing up. Both hands are pointing with its index finger and have the other fingers folded down against the palm. The hands are attached to wrists that are wearing white buttoned cuffs under dark sleeves. In the poster’s upper left quadrant is large text in block letters that reads “A Lot of People / Are Waiting / For MARTIN / LUTHER KING / or MAHATMA / GANDHI / To Come Back- / But / They Are / GONE.” In the lower right quadrant this text continues “WE / ARE IT. / IT IS UP / TO US. / IT IS UP / TO YOU.” Below this quote is smaller red text that reads “Marian / Wright / Edelman.” In the bottom right corner is small black text that reads “Chicago Design Museum / “Great Ideas of Humanity / -One of a Series.” Followed by a pre-printed signature by Gail Anderson. The back of the poster is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2018
• Designed by: Gail Anderson, American, born 1962
• Subject of: Marian Wright Edelman, American, born 1939
• Subject of: Design Museum of Chicago
• Type: posters
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 20 × 13 1/2 in. (50.8 × 34.3 cm)
• Place printed: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Graphic design
• Topic: Museums
• Object number: 2020.11.12
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gail Anderson
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Gail Anderson Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.