Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Minneapolis Stay Up (Blue)”?
Artist Statement
MINNEAPOLIS STAY UP BLUE Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 300
Summary
Minneapolis Stay Up (Blue) is a 2005 Shepard Fairey screen print published by Obey Giant in an edition of 300, measuring 18 x 24 inches. It is the blue colorway of the design, which was also issued in red. The image belongs to Fairey's "Stay Up" street-art-rooted motif, rendering graffiti-culture language in his flat, high-contrast graphic style. Released at an original price of $30, it sits among his accessible mid-2000s screen-print editions. The print pairs bold typographic and emblematic elements with Fairey's signature limited palette, reflecting his roots in poster and sticker street campaigns.
Why It Matters
Minneapolis Stay Up connects Shepard Fairey's gallery editions to the street-art ethos that launched his career. The phrase "stay up" is graffiti-culture shorthand for keeping work visible on the streets, and Fairey's adoption of it ties his Obey Giant prints back to the wheatpaste-and-sticker practice that built his reputation. Issuing the design in distinct color editions, here blue alongside a red counterpart, is a recurring Fairey strategy that lets collectors chase variants and reflects his screen-printer's interest in color as a compositional variable. For collectors, the print documents the mid-2000s moment when Fairey was producing a wide run of accessible 18 x 24 inch editions, just before mainstream fame. Its city-specific "Minneapolis" framing also gives it a geographic and community dimension that more generic editions lack. The combination of street-culture vocabulary, graphic boldness, and an affordable original format makes it appealing as both a wall piece and a marker of Fairey's identity as a street artist who carried that sensibility into the print studio. Its value rests on this cultural bridge rather than on any rarity claim.
Collector Perspective
This print suits collectors who value Shepard Fairey's street-art roots and the "Stay Up" graffiti vocabulary, as well as those who enjoy collecting color variants. Because it was issued in blue and red, completists may seek both to display as a pair, and the bold palette reads strongly on a wall. At its accessible original format and edition size, it fits collectors building breadth across his mid-2000s catalog rather than focusing only on celebrity portraits. The Minneapolis framing also appeals to regionally minded buyers. It pairs naturally with other 18 x 24 inch screen prints of the era and with Fairey's other street-culture and "Stay Up" themed works.
Historical Context
Minneapolis Stay Up (Blue) belongs to Shepard Fairey's mid-2000s Obey Giant period, when he produced numerous 18 x 24 inch screen-print editions, often in multiple colorways. The "Stay Up" motif links these gallery prints to the wheatpaste and sticker street campaigns that originated his OBEY project, situating the work within his ongoing dialogue between fine-art editions and graffiti culture. Released in 2005, it predates the 2008 Obama "Hope" image and sits among the prints that cemented his graphic identity. The issuing of paired blue and red editions reflects a production approach Fairey used repeatedly across this era, and the city-specific title connects the work to the geographic spread of his street practice.
FAQ
How many colorways exist of Minneapolis Stay Up?
The source lists two editions: this Blue version and a Red version. Issuing a design in multiple colorways was a common Shepard Fairey practice, and collectors sometimes seek both to display the variants together.
What is the edition size and format?
Minneapolis Stay Up (Blue) is a screen print measuring 18 x 24 inches, published by Obey Giant in 2005 in an edition of 300. This was a standard accessible run for Fairey's editions of the period.
What does "Stay Up" mean?
"Stay Up" is graffiti-culture language for keeping street work visible and not getting it removed. Its use ties this gallery edition back to the wheatpaste and sticker street campaigns that originated Fairey's OBEY project.
What was the original price?
The record lists an original release price of $30, consistent with Obey Giant's accessible pricing for its standard 18 x 24 inch screen-print editions in 2005.
Related Works
About the Artist
Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American street artist, graphic designer, and activist, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His 1989 “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker grew into the global OBEY GIANT campaign — an ongoing experiment in propaganda, obedience, and visual culture. He reached worldwide recognition with the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, now held by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Across screen prints, stencils, murals, and collage, Fairey channels propaganda aesthetics toward themes of peace, justice, environmentalism, and civil rights. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and LACMA.