Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Raise The Caliber”?
Artist Statement
18 x 24 inch screen print on cream speckle tone paper. Signed and numbered edition of 350. $55. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Caliber Foundation. "I'm always on board to help out a program that can make something beautiful out of something so raw and threatening. I think creative literal transformation is a great metaphor for spiritual transformation toward peace and harmony. I'm collaborating with the Caliber Foundation because I wholly believe in the ideology of the organization – to offer support to victims, families and communities that have been devastated by illegal gun violence. As a culture we hear about guns all too often, but there is an insidious amount of ILLEGAL guns that are making their way into people's hands without any regulation or control." – Shepard
Summary
Raise The Caliber is a 2015 screen print published by Obey Giant, printed on cream speckle tone paper as a signed and numbered first edition of 350. It measures 18 x 24 inches and was released at an original price of $55. Per the source, a portion of proceeds was donated to the Caliber Foundation, which Fairey's statement describes as supporting victims, families, and communities devastated by illegal gun violence. Fairey frames the collaboration as transforming something raw and threatening into something beautiful, a metaphor for peace and harmony.
Why It Matters
Raise The Caliber anchors Fairey's 2015 collaboration with the Caliber Foundation, a partnership the source documents as supporting those affected by illegal gun violence, with a portion of proceeds donated to the foundation. The print directly engages gun violence, a subject Fairey addresses less frequently than peace or environmental themes, giving it a distinct place in his catalog of cause-linked editions. Fairey's quoted rationale, making something beautiful out of something raw and threatening as a metaphor for spiritual transformation toward peace, provides a clear artist-stated intent that elevates it above a generic graphic. It serves as the base edition paired with the Rise Above variant from the same project, giving collectors a clear set relationship. At an edition of 350 it is mid-sized for Fairey. For a database, the differentiators are the named Caliber Foundation beneficiary, the gun-violence focus, and the documented artist statement, all source-grounded. Collectors of Fairey's social-justice and collaboration work will see this as a meaningful advocacy piece.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors focused on Fairey's social-justice and peace messaging and on editions tied to named causes; the source documents the donation to the Caliber Foundation around illegal gun violence. As the base edition paired with the Rise Above variant, it interests buyers assembling related sets. At 18 x 24 inches on cream speckle paper, it frames cleanly and sits well alongside other 2015 releases. The numbered edition of 350 keeps it limited yet accessible. It fits collections organized around social justice, collaboration projects, or Fairey's mid-2010s output. Collectors who value a documented artist statement explaining the work's purpose will appreciate the included Fairey quote that grounds the print in a specific advocacy effort.
Historical Context
Released December 2015 under Obey Giant, Raise The Caliber belongs to Fairey's mid-2010s run of cause-linked collaborations. The documented Caliber Foundation partnership situates it among his works on gun violence, broadening his social-justice catalog beyond more frequent peace and environmental subjects. Printed on cream speckle tone paper, it is part of a cohesive cluster of 2015 releases and is paired with the Rise Above colorway from the same project. Fairey's statement, repeated across both editions, frames the collaboration as creative transformation toward peace, reflecting his approach of attaching personal rationale to advocacy work. The print represents Fairey applying his established graphic language to a specific contemporary social problem through an organizational partnership.
FAQ
What cause does this print support?
Per the source, a portion of proceeds was donated to the Caliber Foundation, which Fairey's statement says supports victims, families, and communities devastated by illegal gun violence. The print functions as part of his collaboration with that organization.
What does Fairey say about the project?
Fairey describes making something beautiful out of something so raw and threatening, calling creative transformation a metaphor for spiritual transformation toward peace and harmony. He states he believes in the foundation's ideology of supporting those affected by illegal gun violence.
What are the edition details?
Raise The Caliber is a signed and numbered first edition of 350, measuring 18 x 24 inches, printed on cream speckle tone paper. It was released through Obey Giant in 2015 at an original price of $55.
How does it relate to the Rise Above version?
It is the base edition of the same 2015 Raise The Caliber project and Caliber Foundation collaboration, paired with the Raise The Caliber - Rise Above colorway that incorporates Fairey's Rise Above motif.
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.