Dorothy Waugh, National Parks / The Adventures of Today are the Memories of Tomorrow, 1934

“Blazing a Trail”
The 17 travel posters Dorothy Waugh created for the National Park Service between 1934 and 1936 are significant cultural records of the Great Depression and mark a turning point in American graphic design. Although Waugh began her work for the NPS in 1933 as a landscape architect, she was also a highly trained artist. She advocated for the bureau to produce its own poster campaign, separate from those of the railroads and with its own style and messaging. The resulting poster series was the first time the government had assigned such an ambitious project to a single designer — let alone a female modernist.

Molly Crabapple, General Strike, 2012

“Utopia in Our Time”
Enchanting, haunting, and poignant, beloved illustrator Molly Crabapple’s posters showcase the resilience of community, the power in solidarity, and the spirit of celebration. Deeply intersectional, her messaging touches on global issues—from activism against anti-Muslim sentiment to the uplifting of Puerto Rican culture, burlesque entertainment to new technological innovations. This exhibition attempts to capture the artist’s boundless spirit and beautiful work by framing it in a world all her own. Like her life experience, Molly’s posters are far-reaching, but always centered around humanity.