News & Politics

The Artist Behind Obama’s ‘Hope’ Portrait Just Released A Series of Free Posters in Support of Gun Reform

Expect to see a lot of them at the March for Our Lives on March 24.

"Assault On Our Future," by StudioNumberOne.com.

Graphic artist and muralist Shepard Fairey might be most famous for his Barack Obama Hope poster, but all the recent political turmoil has given him plenty of new material. In the lead up to Donald Trump‘s inauguration, he debuted the We The People series. And now, with the March for Our Lives approaching on March 24, he has once again come through with powerful art to mark the moment.

Fairey’s design studio, Studio Number One, released two images yesterday in honor of the National School Walkout, in which students abandoned their classrooms for at least 17 minutes at 10 am to protest the nation’s lax gun laws. The length of time referenced the 17 students who lost their lives in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14.

Both images can be downloaded for free at StudioNumberOne.com and Amplifier.org. Expect to see your fair share of them taped to signs and posterboard during the March For Our Lives on March 24. The first, called Schools Not War Zones, shows the silhouette of an AR-15 assault rifle melded with that of a yellow school bus. The second is the stark silhouette of the assault rifle on a cream background, with a trim consisting of chains. In the upper righthand corner is a sticker-like graphic that reads “Product of the U.S.A.”

shepard fairey, gun reform, student walkout, #nationalschoolwalkout
“Schools Not Warzones,” by StudioNumberOne.com.

On his site, ObeyGiant.com, Fairey posted a short personal statement on February 21st entitled “Thoughts On Gun Violence After Parkland School Shooting,” in which he expresses solidarity with the movement for gun reform. “Recent events have shown us that gun violence is still a serious problem that the NRA and our current administration neglect to acknowledge,” he wrote. “It’s time speak up and stand up if you believe in safety over intimidation.”

Assistant Editor

Hayley is an Associate Editor at Washingtonian Weddings. Previously she was the the Style Editor at The Local Palate, a Southern food culture magazine based out of Charleston, South Carolina. You can follow her on instagram @wandertaste.