What's Going Around

Lou Stovall & the Community Poster, 1967 - 1976

June 12 – July 17, 2021

Lou Stovall
Howard Three Plays - Howard University
1970
multiple color silkscreen on paper
26" x 20"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Lloyd McNeill Jazz Quintet - The New Thing
1967
multiple color silkscreen on paper
17" x 11"
 

Lou Stovall
Mobilize Against Repression - Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam
1970
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Heros - Bohemian Caverns
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
28" x 23"
 

Di Stovall
What's Going Around - National School Lunch Program
1975
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Paul Reed
American Painting - National Gallery of Art et al.
1970
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Gene Davis
Kennedy Center 5th Anniversary
1976
multiple color silkscreen on paper
40" x 30"
 

Sam Gilliam
T-Shirt - EEO
1973
multiple color silkscreen on paper
30" x 22"
 

Sam Gilliam
Dance '72
1972
multiple color silkscreen on paper
40" x 26"
 

Lou Stovall
Love Circus
1970
multiple color silkscreen on paper
23" x 23"
 

Lou Stovall
God Is An Equal Opportunity Employer - EEO
1973
multiple color silkscreen on paper
22" x 30"
 

Lou Stovall
Peace Corps - Peace Corps
1970
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lou Stovall
Buy Pride Xmas Trees - Youth Pride Empowerment Inc.
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"

Walter Hopps, Lou Stovall
32nd Corcoran Biennial - Corcoran Gallery
1971
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Di Stovall
Fruits of Our Lives
1971
multiple color silkscreen on paper
28" x 23"
 

Di Stovall
P Street to the People - Jefferson Place Gallery et al.
1971
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Towards a Black University Conference
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
23" x 35"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Excellence in Education - Charles Cassel
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Bicycledelic - Summer in the Parks
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
23" x 35"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Communicate! - Federal City College
1969
multiple color silkscreen on paper
26" x 20"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Pop Music Festival - Summer in the Parks
1969
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Citywide Talent Show - Summer in the Parks
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Workshop-Corcoran
1969
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Roberta Flack - Bohemian Caverns
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Roberta Flack - The New Thing
1967
multiple color silkscreen on paper
17" x 11"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Ramsey Lewis & Cannonball Adderley at DAR/Constitution Hall
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Sun Ra - Corcoran Gallery of Art
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Time Machine -- The New Thing
1967
multiple color silkscreen on paper
17" x 11"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
The Turning Point - The New Thing
1967
multiple color silkscreen on paper
17" x 11"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Wes Montgomery - Bohemian Caverns
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
Arena Stage '68-69
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

Di Stovall
The Amen Corner - Federal City College
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
28" x 20"
 

Lloyd McNeill, Lou Stovall
King Lear - Arena Stage
1968
multiple color silkscreen on paper
35" x 23"
 

In 1967, prodded by local protests for democratic representation, President Johnson appointed Walter Washington the first mayor of Washington, DC. In 1973 the US Congress instituted Home Rule for the District of Columbia, granting the city’s citizens limited voting rights on local issues. No doubt Johnson and Congress, intentionally or not, were tilting toward eventual statehood. The late 1960s and early 1970s were instrumental in the political future of Washington DC. Like the nation at large, the city was changing. DC was demanding its right to speak for itself.

Posters have historically informed the public of events, causes, and actions. The Workshop, Inc., founded in 1968 and guided by the artist Lou Stovall, created posters serving these purposes. Today the Stovall posters offer us a view into a critical transitional period in the District of Columbia. The array of messages - political, social, and artistic - worked towards building a community, helping to define its members and goals. The Stovall posters, created around the time of DC independence, were a serious form of communication. Yet, the posters are jubilant and entertaining. Stovall’s gift for bold, bright graphic designs is striking, often playful, never passive. The posters are clearly of their time as each displays the most contemporary aesthetic challenges of the period. Today, we may delight in the nostalgic feeling of their various styles. We should not miss the more subtle overall message of how a community coalesces and how inspired leading voices speak through artistic mediums.

This exhibition includes collaborations with the following artists: Gene Davis, Sam Gilliam, Walter Hopps, Rockne Krebs, Lloyd McNeill, Paul Reed, and Di Stovall. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with artist and curator Will Stovall.

Lou Stovall was recently awarded the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Award from the Georgia Museum of Art. Recent exhibitions include a presentation of What’s Going Around at the Columbus Museum in Columbus, GA, November 14, 2020, to April 11, 2021. Forthcoming exhibitions include Of the Land: Lou Stovall and the Poetry of Seasons at the Kreeger Museum, Washington DC, January 20–April 16, 2022, coinciding with the publication of Of the Land: Lou Stovall and the Poetry of Seasons, edited by Will Stovall, by Georgetown University Press in February 2022.