Here at Studio Seven Arts we are fortunate to feature artist Steve Thomas who is inspired by the National Park Posters and creates modern-day art with a retro feel. Steve’s pieces feature many well-known places in California, Utah, and other states here in the US. Steve’s latest piece is Pleasanton Downtown and is filled with nostalgia from the Hap’s sign to the Meadowlark Dairy.

In 1938 the very first National Park poster was the Grand Teton National Park and from 1938 to 1941 there were an estimated 1,400 National Park posters printed. Today, just 41 posters are accounted for of the 14 designs that we’re created by Park Service offices in Berkeley, California, and in the Western Museums Laboratories at the Berkeley University campus. Other parks included in the project were Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyon, Lassen, Mount Rainer, Petrified Forest, Great Smoky Mountain’s, Glacier, Wind Cave, and Fort Marion, today known as Castillo de San Marcos. Steve Thomas has created Yosemite, Big Basin and Sequoia National Park with a vibrant style

At the time, the WPA (Work Progress Administration) National Park posters were not considered to have a great artistic value, so they were treated without particular care and few of them received attention. They were used as wall decorations in National Parks’ offices and gift shops. They were sold or given away, and often thrown into the garbage. The artists who created the posters were not given much credit either and most of their names are not known today. Only one artist is known and his name is Chester Don Powell who is attributed to creating the Yellowstone, Zion, and Yosemite serigraphs.

Take a look at all Steve Thomas has created and choose your favorite places that you have visited or places that hold a special place in your heart, build a wall of art that brings you memories and makes you smile. Check out this other article on Steve Thomas and learn more about this artist.