Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “People's Climate March”?
Artist Statement
PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH – TO CHANGE EVERYTHING WE NEED EVERYONE Most of you know that I am very concerned about the dangers of climate change. Dick Cheney said “if there is even a 1% chance of a terrorist attack, we must do everything in our power to be prepared”. 95% or more of the scientific community agrees that climate change is happening, and is a dramatic threat to the planet, yet far less is being done to fight climate change than to fight terrorism. It’s a good thing the streets of New York will be flooded soon — with hundreds of thousands of people demanding solutions to our out-of-control climate crisis. It’s both an honor and a calling of my conscience for me to contribute a poster to the People’s Climate March effort and get something urgent across about one of the biggest threats facing present and future generations. Lady Liberty and all of us are in trouble if we don’t push our leaders to take bold action. -Shepard Fairey 18 x 24 inch screen print on Speckletone paper. Signed and numbered edition of 300. Limit 1 per person/household. $55, proceeds go to PeoplesClimateMarch.org.
Summary
People's Climate March is a 2014 Shepard Fairey screen print made as a benefit poster for the People's Climate March in New York. Measuring 18 x 24 inches on Speckletone paper, it is a signed and numbered first edition of 300. The image centers on Lady Liberty as a symbol of a nation imperiled by climate change, paired with the campaign's rallying message about demanding bold action from leaders. Published by Obey Giant, it carried a $55 release price with proceeds directed to PeoplesClimateMarch.org, and was limited to one per person or household.
Why It Matters
This print connects Fairey's iconic propaganda-poster language to one of the largest climate mobilizations of the 2010s, the 2014 People's Climate March in New York. Rather than a studio edition, it functioned as a movement object, designed to be carried, posted, and seen in the streets, with proceeds routed to the march organizers per the source. That benefit framing matters to collectors who value works that operated as real-world activist tools rather than purely decorative editions. The use of Lady Liberty, an American civic symbol, to argue that the country itself is endangered by climate inaction gives the piece a directly Americana-inflected environmental message. At an accessible $55 release price and an edition of 300, it sits in the approachable tier of Fairey's output, broadening who could participate. For a database, its significance lies in documenting how Fairey repeatedly lent his visual brand to organized campaigns, turning recognizable imagery into civic call-to-action. It belongs to a cluster of mid-2010s environmental prints that frame ecological crisis as a justice and survival issue, and it shows the artist's stated personal concern about climate, quoted directly in the release text, translated into a public-facing edition.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors focused on Fairey's activist and environmental output, and to those who specifically seek works tied to a documented cause or campaign. At an 18 x 24 inch size and an accessible original release price, it is approachable for newer collectors building a thematic group around climate and protest imagery. The Lady Liberty motif gives it strong wall presence and an unmistakably American civic reading that pairs well with other political pieces. It fits naturally into a collection organized around environmental advocacy or movement posters, and it sits alongside Fairey's other mid-2010s climate-themed editions. Buyers who prize provenance narratives will value the benefit-poster origin and the stated link to a real march, while display-oriented collectors get a bold, legible single image.
Historical Context
People's Climate March falls within Fairey's mid-2010s stretch of environmentally themed editions, a period when he increasingly directed his propaganda-derived visual style toward ecological and justice causes. The 2014 release date ties it to the New York climate march of that September, and the release text quotes Fairey's own stated alarm about climate change, framing the poster as a contribution to an organized effort rather than a standalone art object. Within his broader arc, it extends the artist's long practice of producing benefit and campaign posters that move from gallery walls into public protest. The recurring use of Lady Liberty links it to his ongoing engagement with American iconography repurposed for critique. It sits comfortably among related 2014 and 2015 environmental editions published by Obey Giant, reflecting a sustained thematic run.
FAQ
What is People's Climate March by Shepard Fairey?
It is a 2014 screen print Fairey created in connection with the People's Climate March in New York. The 18 x 24 inch image features Lady Liberty as a symbol of a nation threatened by climate change, paired with the campaign's message urging bold action from leaders. It was published by Obey Giant on Speckletone paper.
How large is the edition?
Per the source, it is a signed and numbered first edition of 300. The release text noted a limit of one per person or household, and it was sold at a $55 release price with proceeds going to PeoplesClimateMarch.org.
What are its dimensions and medium?
It is a screen print measuring 18 x 24 inches, printed on Speckletone paper and published by Obey Giant in 2014. The source describes it as a signed and numbered edition.
Why is this print significant?
It is a benefit poster tied to a major real-world climate mobilization, with proceeds directed to the march organizers per the source. Fairey's release text states his personal concern about climate change, and the Lady Liberty image frames climate inaction as a threat to the country itself.
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.