Subway poster for School of Visual Arts designed by Gail Anderson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a subway poster for the School of Visual Arts designed by Gail Anderson and illustrated by Terry Allen, featuring a quote from President Barack Obama and an abstract flower with eyes for leaves. The poster has a black background. In the upper left quadrant is white text that reads “IN / REAFFIRMING / THE / GREATNESS / OF OUR / NATION, / WE / UNDERSTAND / THAT / GREATNESS / IS NEVER A / GIVEN.” The text continues in the bottom right quadrant “IT / MUST / BE / EARNED. /PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA / Inaugural Address – January 20, 2009.” Down the center of the poster is a red flower on a tall green stem, growing out of a green mound at the bottom center of the poster. The red flower at the top of the stem is the same as the flower logo for the School of Visual Arts. Hanging all along the length of the stem are leaves made to resemble eyes, with blue, green, and red pupils. In the bottom right corner is a small red flower, the logo of the School of Visual Arts. White text next to the flower reads “School of VISUAL ARTS / SVA.EDU.” This is followed by copyright information.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2009
• Designed by: Gail Anderson, American, born 1962
• Illustrated by: Terry Allen, American
• Subject of: President Barack Obama, American, born 1961
• Subject of: School of Visual Arts, American, founded 1947
• Type: posters
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 45 7/8 × 30 in. (116.5 × 76.2 cm)
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Graphic design
• Object number: 2020.11.37
• 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: © School of Visual Arts Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.