Tote bag and button for "Art & Activism" designed by Gail Anderson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a tote bag with a pin-back button attached to the front top left-hand corner. The black cloth bag (.1) has two cloth straps for carrying and an open top with no fastener. Its front has a printed design in red, black and white. In the center of the front canvas is a red square. Within the square is white block text that reads “ART &.” The following line has black text within individual white rectangle boxes that read “ACTI/VISM.” Below the red square is one word in white and red ink “CONTINUED” with the ‘continu’ in white with a white line over it and ‘ed’ in red with a red line over it. Superimposed over the ‘T’ is a small red circle with petal-like edges. Within the circle is white text that reads “SVA/NYC.” The back of the tote bag is blank. The pin-back button (.2) is round with a red background. On it is white block text that reads “ART &.” The following line has black text within individual white rectangle boxes that read “ACTI/VISM.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2018
• Designed by: Gail Anderson, American, born 1962
• Subject of: School of Visual Arts, American, founded 1947
• Type: tote bags
• Type: buttons (information artifacts)
• Medium: cloth , ink on paper (fiber product) on metal with plastic
• Dimensions: H x W (tote): 16 × 15 in. (40.6 × 38.1 cm)
• Dimensions: Diameter (pin): 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Graphic design
• Object number: 2020.11.7.1-.2
• 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.