RESIST exhibition: call for ENTRIES : due June 15
RESIST: artistamps that foster political change
The grins of the people are the nightmares of the dictators.—-Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize, 2010
Every joke is a tiny revolution.—-George Orwell, 1945
Could there be a smaller revolt than a postage stamp? RESIST is a juried artiststamp exhibit challenging our current political situation. The exhibit brings attention to the upcoming midterm elections and the need for changes in Congress and the White House.
RESIST is presented by Hive Center for the Book Arts in Evanston, Illinois. The three-day exhibit is free and open to the public, with sheets of stamps available for purchase.
What’s an artistamp?
An artistamp (a portmanteau of “artist” and “stamp”) is an art form that mimics postage stamps and often takes satirical, critical, or provocative aim at governmental systems. Artistamps aren’t valid postage, but are often included alongside valid postage to decorate envelopes and make a statement.
Exhibit details
Friday, August 28-Sunday, August 30, 2026 :: 11:00 am — 6:00 pm
Gallery 900 at 900 Dempster, Evanston, IL 60202. The gallery is easily accessible by El, Metra, and car.
RESIST schedule
Call for art: May 1-June 15
Jury evaluation: June 15-July 15
Notification: July 15
Art due: August 15
Call for Submissions
Submit up to four different sheet samples (pdf or jpg) using this form.
Each submission of up to four stamp designs must include a $25 entry fee. Submissions that do not include an entry fee will not be considered.
Entries will be judged based on relevance, design, humor, originality, and execution.
Craig Jobson, Curator
Craig Jobson’s 52-year design career includes graphic design for the University of Texas Health Science Center, the national office of The American Heart Association, art direction for Tracy-Locke/BBDO Advertising and Holt, Rinhart & Winston; design direction for McDougal Littell Houghton Mifflin; and Director of Design and Production for the American Bar Association. He joined the full-time faculty at Columbia College Chicago as an associate professor, where he directed his Publication Design and Typography History classes in publishing 28 issues of the 46-page Zine Columbia featuring flash fiction and experimental typography, and also taught at the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy. In 2001, he launched his private press, Lark Sparrow Press, which letterpress prints illustrated works of contemporary fiction, poetry, broadsides, and faux postage stamps. To date he has over 45 projects in print and has been collected by rare book collectors, national museums, and 22 university and college special collection libraries. In 2024-25 his essay, “The Travails of a Private Press Printer,” was published by Parenthesis, the international journal of the Fine Press Book Association. His latest work is a 56-page graphic story called The Adventures of Aloysius and Banjo — The Trek from Bucksnort to Toadsuck.
Josh Berger, Juror
Joshua Berger is a founder and principal of Plazm, an award-winning design studio and publisher of Plazm magazine. He is the winner of Gold Medals from the Portland Design Festival and the Leipzig Book Fair (with John C. Jay), and has been recognized by design publications and award shows including the AIGA Annual Show, the Art Directors Club, as well as 2004 and 2008 honorary exhibitions at ZGRAF in Zagreb, Croatia.Berger’s prints, installations, and street interventions often confront sociopolitical and environmental issues. Plazm has been listed by ID magazine as one of the 40 most influential design studios in the world and received the Creative Resistance Award from Adbusters. The complete catalog of Plazm magazine resides in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Denver Art Museum, and the Princeton Architecture Library.
Niko Courtelis, Juror
Niko is a creative director and partner of Portland-based graphic design firm PLAZM. He is also Chief Perforating Officer of The Portland Stamp Company. He is a former professor of design at his alma mater, Pratt Institute, the Pacific Northwest Collage of Art and Portland State University. Niko is the recipient of the One Show Pencil, Art Director’s Club Cube and Young Guns Award. His book, Iconic: The postage stamps of Lance Wyman, was published by Kat Ran Press in 2019.
Jennifer Murray, Juror
Jennifer Murray is an artist, educator, and curator who lives and works in Chicago. Her work and research investigates human material culture and the impact that objects and collecting have on contemporary life. In addition to her creative work, her professional practice includes working as a curator, writer, and cultural producer. She is the founder and Creative Director of Staple + Stitch Art Book and Print Fair, and was previously the Museum Manager at 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, and the Executive Director of Filter Photo for eight years. She was Director of Averill and Bernard Leviton A+D Gallery at Columbia College Chicago for eleven years, organizing and curating a broad range of exhibitions in art and design. Additionally, Murray is an independent curator and writer, and was a featured director/curator in NewcityMagazine’s Art 50: Chicago’s Visual Vanguard 2024.