What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Another Day In The Coal Mine (Large Format)”?

Artist Statement

The "While Supplies Last!" large format serigraph is based on a mural I recently painted in the East Quarter of Dallas, Texas, featuring flowers, a female environmental activist, and a faux advertising sticker. The art is a reminder to preserve the planet's health so it can continue to sustain things we value. The beautiful and life-sustaining aspects of the environment will not last unless we protect them. Flowers have been consistent motifs in my work as symbols of positive growth and harmony. Of course, the concept extends much further than just flowers, but flowers are a pretty universally relatable symbol. Whatever you treasure from nature, protect it so the supply is renewable. The "Another Day In the Coal Mine" large format serigraph is a scene of sun, flowers, patterns, a factory, and the scales of justice. Perched on a ledge is a Summer Tanager, a beautiful red bird that was once extremely common but has seen a concerning decline in its population. This is a vision of what we almost all find beautiful but need to consider thoughtfully… do we want more pollution or more environmental justice? I don't want this print to be a nostalgic picture of a romantic time that once was. Let's protect the birds, flowers, and air quality for our time and the future of the planet! –Shepard While Supplies Last & Another Day In the Coal Mine. 45 x 26 inches. Serigraph on Coventry Rag, 100% Cotton Custom Archival Paper with hand-deckled edges. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 100. Purchase both prints in the same order to receive a matching numbered set. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $950.

Summary

Another Day In The Coal Mine (Large Format) is a 2023 serigraph published by Obey Giant, measuring 45 x 26 inches on Coventry Rag 100% cotton custom archival paper with hand-deckled edges. The scene combines sun, flowers, patterns, a factory, and the scales of justice, with a Summer Tanager, a red bird once common but now in concerning decline, perched on a ledge. The image poses a choice between more pollution and more environmental justice. Signed by Shepard Fairey and numbered in an edition of 100, it comes with a Verisart Digital Certificate of Authenticity and can be paired with its companion print for a matching numbered set. Released January 26, 2023, at $950.

Why It Matters

Another Day In The Coal Mine reads as one of Fairey's most pointed large-format environmental statements, pairing beauty with explicit warning. The composition gathers his recurring motifs, flowers as symbols of positive growth, ornamental patterning, and the scales of justice, around an industrial factory and a declining bird species, framing the work as a direct question about pollution versus environmental justice. Fairey explicitly rejects nostalgia, stating he does not want the image to be a romantic picture of a time that once was, and instead calls for protecting birds, flowers, and air quality for the present and future. As a large-format serigraph on heavyweight cotton archival paper with hand-deckled edges, in an edition of only 100, it is among his more ambitious and physically substantial print objects. Its designed pairing with the companion While Supplies Last large format, where buying both in one order yields a matching numbered set, gives collectors a deliberate diptych opportunity. The Verisart certificate and museum-grade paper reinforce its standing as a premium release.

Collector Perspective

This is a premium piece for serious collectors of Fairey's environmental work who want scale, archival materials, and a small edition. At 45 x 26 inches on Coventry Rag cotton paper with hand-deckled edges and an edition of just 100, it functions as a centerpiece rather than a casual acquisition, and the $950 original price reflects that. Collectors can pair it with the companion While Supplies Last large format to assemble a matching numbered diptych, an appealing prospect for those who value sets. Its rich imagery, factory, scales of justice, flowers, and the declining Summer Tanager, rewards display and conversation, and the Verisart certificate supports provenance.

Historical Context

Another Day In The Coal Mine sits in Fairey's environmental phase of the early 2020s, when he produced large-format serigraphs on archival cotton paper to give his ecological messaging gallery-scale presence. It extends motifs he has used consistently, flowers as symbols of growth and harmony and the scales of justice, while introducing a specific endangered subject, the Summer Tanager, to dramatize biodiversity decline. Conceived as a companion to While Supplies Last, itself based on a Dallas mural, it reflects his practice of translating public murals and paired imagery into collectible editions. The use of Coventry Rag cotton paper with hand-deckled edges and a Verisart certificate is characteristic of his premium 2023 output, positioning this work among his more materially ambitious environmental releases.

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Related Works

While Supplies Last (Large Format)2023 · Designed companion piece; buying both in one order yields a matching numbered set.

While Supplies Last2022 · Standard-format version of the paired While Supplies Last image and message.

Carga Frágil Mural2023 · Same-year environmental print derived from a mural, sharing the conservation theme.

Sunset As The Fall Approaches2023 · Same-year environmental landscape in the nature-protection register.

Birdsong Project2022 · Bird- and nature-focused collaboration aligning with the Summer Tanager subject here.

Parks For Everyone2022 · Environmental conservation print sharing the protect-nature message.