Center for the Study of Political Graphics

The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) is a United States non-profit, educational and research archive that collects, preserves, documents, and circulates domestic and international political posters relating to historical and contemporary movements for social change. From its base in Los Angeles, California, CSPG organizes travelling exhibitions, lectures, and workshops, and publishes educational material. Their website also hosts virtual exhibitions.

CSPG was founded in 1989 by Carol Wells. Wells has been involved in social justice since high school when she discovered the power of political graphics "when a UCLA professor hired her to travel to Nicaragua in 1981 to collect posters for him after the Sandinistas had come to power. She has said, "I literally had that dismissive attitude toward a poster that, once I realized how important posters are, I resented in other people." She holds a B.A. in History and M.A. in Art History from UCLA. She taught history of art and architecture for thirteen years at California State University, Fullerton. She has also served as a mentor for the Creative Action program at Otis College of Art and Design teaching students about the power of art to make change. Since 1981, Wells has been collecting posters internationally that advocate for civil rights. She is an expert on political graphics and has published scores of articles and essays about political poster art. She has also organized over 100 poster exhibitions.

The CSPG archive currently contains more than 85,000 posters and has the largest collection of post-World War II social justice posters in the United States and the second largest in the world. Media and techniques represented include offset, lithography, linocut, woodblock, silkscreen, stencil, and . All prints are catalogued to aid researchers. CSPG also loans out prints to other institutions for exhibit. Portions of the collection are available through the Online Archives of California, an initiative of the California Digital Library.

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