As the United States National Parks Service marks its centennial anniversary, a global group of artists have lent their creative minds to the celebration. In 2014, the Creative Action Network partnered with the National Parks Conservation Association to revive the legacy of the New Deal. From 1938 to 1941, the National Parks Service employed artists through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to create promotional posters for national park sites. The artists produced 14 original designs before WWII, when the campaign faded against the backdrop of the war. Today, only 40 of the original posters remain in existence.
Now, 75 years later, enter the Creative Action Network, a global community of artists and designers that pool their talents for good through crowdsourced campaigns. The Network’s 2014 partnership with the National Parks Conservation Association sparked the “See America” campaign, inviting artists to reimagine a new collection of posters inspired by the original WPA designs. Artists based around the world contributed to the resulting collection, which features posters celebrating 75 national parks and monuments across all 50 states.
Just in time for the National Parks Service’s 100th birthday this year, the campaign has been transformed into a volume published by Chronicle Books entitled, See America. The collection within the book is both a nod to national history and a hallmark of the modern era for the national parks of America.
All proceeds from the sale of See America will go to support the artists involved in the campaign and the National Parks Conservation Association. Find the book online at https://creativeaction.network/pages/see-america-the-book.
