Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Protect The Sacred (Offset Lithograph)”?
Artist Statement
24 x 36 inch lithograph print on thick cream speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 200. $35. Image based on a Photograph by Aaron Huey. Proceeds will benefit Honor the Treaties.
Summary
Protect The Sacred is a 2015 offset lithograph on thick cream speckletone paper, 36 x 24 inches, signed by Shepard Fairey in a numbered edition of 200 at $35, published by Obey Giant. The image is based on a photograph by Aaron Huey, and proceeds were directed to benefit Honor the Treaties. The work pairs Fairey's portrait-based graphic style with a cause-driven release supporting Indigenous rights, presenting a dignified subject framed by Fairey's signature treatment.
Why It Matters
Protect The Sacred is a clear example of Fairey's recurring model of fusing portraiture with direct activism. The source confirms it is based on a photograph by Aaron Huey, a photojournalist closely associated with documenting Pine Ridge and Lakota communities, and that proceeds benefit Honor the Treaties, a campaign focused on Indigenous land and treaty rights. That documented charitable structure and source-photo collaboration make the print more than a portrait, it is a fundraising and awareness vehicle. As a low-priced offset lithograph in an edition of 200, it functions as an accessible way for collectors to support a cause while owning a signed Fairey work. The Huey collaboration also connects the piece to Fairey's broader pattern of building images on photographers' source material and channeling print sales toward partner organizations. For collectors who organize around Fairey's justice-oriented and collaboration work, this print offers a concrete, well-documented case of art deployed for advocacy, with both the source photographer and the beneficiary named explicitly in the record.
Collector Perspective
This appeals to collectors focused on Fairey's activism-driven and collaboration prints, as well as those drawn to Indigenous-rights causes given the Honor the Treaties beneficiary. At $35 with an edition of 200, it is an accessible signed work, attractive to newer collectors and to those who value art tied to a documented charitable purpose. The large 36 x 24 inch format and cream speckletone stock make it a striking display piece. Buyers who appreciate Fairey's collaborations with photographers will note the Aaron Huey source credit. It fits within a collection organized around social justice, portraiture, and cause-linked editions.
Historical Context
Released January 8, 2015, Protect The Sacred reflects Fairey's mid-2010s practice of producing cause-aligned editions built on photographers' source images. The collaboration with photojournalist Aaron Huey and the benefit to Honor the Treaties connect the print to a broader movement around Indigenous land and treaty rights that Fairey engaged through related works. Producing it as an affordable offset lithograph rather than a screen print signals an intent to maximize reach and fundraising rather than rarity. The piece sits within Fairey's ongoing arc of turning portraiture into advocacy, aligning a single human subject with a named organizational cause, and extends his long pattern of partnering with photographers and nonprofits to amplify social and political messages through accessible editions.
FAQ
What cause did Protect The Sacred support?
Per the source, proceeds from the print benefit Honor the Treaties, an organization associated with Indigenous land and treaty rights. The work was released as a signed, affordable offset lithograph, structured to channel sales toward this cause rather than to function primarily as a rare collectible.
Who took the photograph the image is based on?
The source states the image is based on a photograph by Aaron Huey. Fairey frequently builds his graphic portraits on photographers' source material, and this print credits Huey directly within the record's description.
What are the print's specifications?
It is described as a 24 x 36 inch lithograph on thick cream speckletone paper, signed by Shepard Fairey, in a numbered edition of 200 at $35, published by Obey Giant and released January 8, 2015.
Is this a screen print or a lithograph?
The source identifies it as an offset lithograph, not a screen print. This medium choice, paired with the low $35 price, supports broad accessibility and fundraising for Honor the Treaties rather than scarcity.
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.