Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2021SYR11
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Follow The North Star
poster information
Description
Follow the North Star
Harriet Tubman leading—
Underground Railroad
In the summer of 2020, America reckoned with issues of racism and injustice. So, when the call went out for poems about CNY's history, I thought of our area's legacy of social activism, from abolitionism to Women's Rights. And who better to embody that heritage than Harriet Tubman, conductor on the Underground Railroad and women's suffrage activist? Many area homes have “hidey-holes,” where enslaved people took cover on their way to Canada and freedom.
There is still much to be done to secure equality and justice for all people. But our local history proves that even one person of good will can make a difference.
The haiku I selected features the historically rich Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad. The character and look were important parts of making this illustration. My goal was to accurately describe her look, as well as express the essence of the person.
I constructed her portrait with a series of Murrey-like colors, which I felt acted as a visual counterpoint to her intensity. In addition, my goal was to portray Tubman in a soft almost nonobjective environment, providing an interesting foil to her portrait, plus suggest the idea of illumination and the North Star as forward-thinking symbols.