What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Arctic 50th Anniversary”?

Artist Statement

Alaska’s wild lands — including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — are under attack. This extraordinary treasure trove of lands, set aside decades ago to be protected now and in the future for the benefit of the American people, is in severe danger of being destroyed forever by short-sighted politicians and the extractive industries. They want only the resources these pristine areas can provide, regardless of the resulting devastation to the habitat, wildlife, and cultures. Alaska Wilderness League is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1993 to further the protection of Alaska’s amazing public lands. The League is the only Washington, D.C.-based environmental group devoted full-time to protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other wilderness-quality lands in Alaska. The League exists to lead the effort to preserve Alaska’s wilderness by engaging citizens, sharing resources, collaborating with other organizations, educating the public, and providing a courageous, constant and victorious voice for Alaska in the nation’s capital. Alaska Wilderness League works at the federal level on a variety of issues affecting Alaska’s wild land and waters. Currently, the League is fighting to permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, promote the sustainable future of the Tongass National Forest, and check the unbalanced and potentially destructive development of Alaska’s Arctic waters and Western Arctic public land. The League, based in Washington, D.C., opened an Arctic Environmental Justice Center in Anchorage, AK in January 2007. The center provides a base of outreach and support for members of Arctic communities who are on the front lines of the destruction from industrial development. 18 x 24? Screen Print. Signed and Numbered Edition of 250. A portion of the proceeds go to www.alaskawild.org Photographer: Steven Kazlowski www.lefteyepro.com Limit 1 per person/household. $55. Release Date: 9/10/2010

Summary

Arctic 50th Anniversary is a 2010 Shepard Fairey screen print, 18 x 24 inches, in a signed and numbered first edition of 250, released September 10, 2010 at $55 with a limit of one per person or household. The print supports the Alaska Wilderness League, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit founded in 1993 to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other Alaskan wild lands. Created from a photograph by Steven Kazlowski, the work highlights threats to Alaska's pristine lands from extractive industries and short-sighted politics. A portion of the proceeds went to alaskawild.org.

Why It Matters

Arctic 50th Anniversary is one of Fairey's explicit environmental-benefit prints, made in support of the Alaska Wilderness League's fight to permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other Alaskan wilderness. The source frames a clear cause: the threat to Alaska's wild lands from extractive industries and the politicians who enable them, alongside the League's mission of preserving these lands through citizen engagement, education, and advocacy in the nation's capital. Built from a Steven Kazlowski wilderness photograph, the print channels Fairey's graphic style into conservation messaging, making it a meaningful piece for collectors who prioritize his environmental activism. The relatively small edition of 250, smaller than many of Fairey's contemporaneous portrait runs, gives it added scarcity within his output. The charitable structure, with proceeds directed to alaskawild.org, ties ownership to a documented conservation effort. As a record of Fairey's early-2010s environmental engagement and his pattern of partnering with advocacy nonprofits, it occupies a distinct and purposeful corner of his catalog, appealing to both art and conservation-minded buyers.

Collector Perspective

This print suits collectors focused on Fairey's environmental and benefit work, and those who value art tied to a concrete conservation cause, here the Alaska Wilderness League and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The smaller edition of 250 makes it relatively scarce among his 2010 releases, and the $55 release price was accessible. The Steven Kazlowski wilderness photo source and the alaskawild.org charitable tie give it a documented story. The 18 x 24 landscape format frames cleanly and anchors an environmentally themed grouping. It fits a collection organized around Fairey's conservation prints or cause-based collaborations.

Historical Context

Released in September 2010 through Obey Giant, Arctic 50th Anniversary belongs to Fairey's recurring practice of producing benefit prints for environmental and advocacy organizations. It aligns with the broader environmental thread in his catalog and his method of basing imagery on existing photographs, here Steven Kazlowski's. By partnering with the Alaska Wilderness League, founded in 1993 to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the print situates Fairey within early-2010s conservation activism, using his accessible graphic vocabulary and editioned-print model to raise funds and awareness for the preservation of Alaskan wild lands.

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Related Works

The Last Mountain2011 · Shares the environmental conservation theme and benefit-print purpose.

Cost Of Oil2008 · Addresses the extractive-industry threats this print opposes in Alaska.

Let Fury Have The Hour2010 · Same 2010 release year within Fairey's collaboration-and-cause output.

Americana Box Set2012 · Part of the surrounding catalog grouping of Fairey's cause-and-culture releases.

Into The Future2012 · Related through Fairey's forward-looking environmental and social messaging.