Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Adopt The Arts Lotus”?
Artist Statement
I'm honored to be a part of the Adopt the Arts' 7th annual gala and fundraiser tonight honoring my good friend Moby and benefitting programs for kids! I created this Adopt the Arts Lotus print to commemorate the night which you get if you purchased certain ticket packages. If you can't attend, this print will also be available for purchase on my site next week, Tuesday, March 12th at store.obeygiant.com. Proceeds help to provide music and arts education in public elementary schools. If you believe in improving the academic system through art and music, please support! Thanks for caring. – Shepard Adopt the Arts Lotus on cream Speckletone paper. 18 x 24 inches. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 500. $55.
Summary
Adopt The Arts Lotus is a screen print on cream Speckletone paper measuring 18 x 24 inches, published in 2019 by Obey Giant in a numbered edition of 500, signed by Shepard Fairey. Per Fairey's statement, he created the print to commemorate Adopt the Arts' 7th annual gala and fundraiser honoring his friend Moby, with the event benefitting music and arts education programs for kids. The print, featuring a lotus motif within his OBEY iconography, was given with certain ticket packages and offered for sale afterward, with proceeds supporting arts education in public elementary schools.
Why It Matters
Adopt The Arts Lotus ties Fairey's decorative lotus iconography to a concrete charitable cause: music and arts education for children. In his statement he explains the print commemorates Adopt the Arts' 7th annual gala and fundraiser honoring his friend Moby, with proceeds helping provide music and arts education in public elementary schools. That benefit framing is the print's defining context; Fairey explicitly asks supporters who believe in improving the academic system through art and music to give. The lotus, a recurring symbol in his ornamental OBEY vocabulary, here carries a message of growth and nurture aligned with the educational mission. Distribution mixed gala participation with a public sale, as the print came with certain ticket packages and was then offered on his store. For collectors, the piece sits at the crossroads of Fairey's design language and his activism, embodying his frequent use of prints to support causes. Rather than a purely aesthetic floral work, it functions as a fundraising object with a documented beneficiary, a dimension that elevates it above a standard decorative print in both meaning and collector interest.
Collector Perspective
This print suits collectors drawn to Fairey's lotus and floral OBEY motifs and to his cause-driven releases. Its appeal is twofold: the elegant lotus design and the documented charitable purpose supporting arts education, honoring Moby at the Adopt the Arts gala. At 18 x 24 inches on cream Speckletone paper it works as a decorative centerpiece and pairs with his other lotus and OBEY-icon prints. It fits a Floral Series or an OBEY-icon collection, or a benefit-print sub-grouping for those who collect Fairey's charitable editions. The signed, numbered edition of 500 offers standard documentation, and the fundraising origin adds a meaningful story many collectors appreciate.
Historical Context
Released in March 2019 by Obey Giant, Adopt The Arts Lotus reflects Fairey's long pattern of producing prints to benefit causes, here arts and music education for children through the Adopt the Arts organization's gala honoring Moby. The lotus motif connects it to his ornamental, mandala-adjacent OBEY iconography that recurs across his catalog. By distributing the print through gala ticket packages and a follow-up public sale with proceeds directed to public elementary school programs, Fairey continued his practice of leveraging editions for philanthropy. Within his arc, the piece exemplifies how he blends his recognizable decorative iconography with direct support for community and educational initiatives during this period.
FAQ
What cause does this print support?
Fairey created it to commemorate Adopt the Arts' 7th annual gala and fundraiser honoring his friend Moby. He states proceeds help provide music and arts education in public elementary schools, and he asks supporters who believe in improving the academic system through art and music to give.
How could people get the print?
Per Fairey's statement, the print was given to those who purchased certain ticket packages for the gala. For those who could not attend, it was also made available for purchase the following Tuesday, March 12th, at store.obeygiant.com.
What are the size, paper and edition?
Adopt the Arts Lotus is 18 x 24 inches on cream Speckletone paper, signed by Shepard Fairey, in a numbered edition of 500, published in 2019 by Obey Giant.
What is depicted?
The print centers on a lotus motif within Fairey's OBEY iconography. The lotus is a recurring decorative symbol in his work, and here it accompanies the fundraiser's theme of nurturing arts and music education for children.
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.