Temecula Displays Political History Poster for Election Season

From The City of Temecula:

TEMECULA, CA – Before network news, cable and satellite TV, before relentless television commercials, before the internet and social media, how did political candidates share their message? During this presidential election season, it is only fitting that the Temecula Valley Museum takes a look back at past elections and introduces its latest traveling exhibit, which features some of the most exciting and rarely seen political posters of the last 170 years. Sign of the Times: The Great American Political Poster 1844-2012 opens on October 29 and will continue through November 30, 2016.

The political campaign poster had its humble beginnings in the 1840s when the new lithographic printing process was developed to satisfy a growing demand for printed material. Hand-colored portraits of presidential and vice-presidential candidates were first printed for the 1844 race between Whig Party candidate, Henry Clay, and Democratic Party candidate, James K. Polk. Technological innovation ushered in the golden age of lithography, roughly between 1890 and 1912, which produced some of the most intricate and colorful posters in this exhibition. The counterculture revolution of the 1960s was awash in psychedelia and anti-war posters. Hundreds of posters were created by well-known artists and illustrators. The campaign of George McGovern in 1972 was a virtual explosion of exciting political art.

Through time, the American political poster has been sorely neglected as an art form despite its effectiveness in conveying the political message to millions of voters through the skillful use of visual communication. Sign of the Times has made every effort to bring eye-popping political graphics to the forefront and show the great American political poster as art. Sign of the Times was curated by Hal Wert, Ph.D., collector and professor of history at Kansas City Art Institute, and organized by Exhibits USA/Mid-America Arts Alliance.

In conjunction with the exhibit, the museum will host a special lecture Women in Politics and Voting featuring Ashley Gardner, Director of the Women’s Museum of California, on Thursday, November 3, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. For more information and to RSVP, please call (951) 694-6950.

About ExhibitsUSA

This exhibition is toured by ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance. ExhibitsUSA sends more than 25 exhibitions on tour to over 100 small and mid-sized communities every year. These exhibitions create access to an array of arts and humanities experiences, nurture the understanding of diverse cultures and art forms, and encourage the expanding depth and breadth of cultural life in local communities. For more about ExhibitsUSA, email MoreArt@maaa.org or visit here.

About Mid-America Arts Alliance

Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) strengthens and supports artists, cultural organizations, and communities throughout our region and beyond. They achieve this primarily through national traveling exhibition programs, innovative leadership development, and strategic grant making. M-AAA is especially committed to enriching the cultural life of historically underserved communities by providing high quality, meaningful, and accessible arts and culture programs and services. Each year M-AAA’s programs, on average, reach one million people. They believe in more art for more people. Additional information about M-AAA is available here.

Image via The City of Temecula