Creative Action Network: The Art of Making Green New Deal Art

Taking style inspiration from the original posters of the WPA, the Creative Action Network’s Green New Deal designs advocate for solutions on climate change, employment inequality, and similar challenges we face today. When we first met co-founder and lead designer Aaron Perry-Zucker at the Green New Deal Create-a-thon we had no idea just how many amazing artists had already designed a plethora of posters speaking to the imaginative power of the Green New Deal.

Here are just a few:

The Creative Action Network, whose acronym CAN is intentionally comprised of three letters just like the WPA, states that its creation was inspired by President Roosevelt’s New Deal, when our government put the nation’s artists to work and the art produced during that post-Great Depression period told the story of America coming together and stands out in history as a model for tackling our biggest problems.

And just as the artists of the original New Deal helped to inform and advocate for those innovative programs over 80 years ago, CAN has taken up the charge of helping the public understand and imagine what could be possible with this exciting new set of policies inherent in the Green New Deal.

CAN’s Green New Deal campaign premiered on March 14, 2019 in Washington D.C., at Bold V. Old, a daylong convening where speakers including Stacey Abrams, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris discussed bold ideas for our biggest problems, including the Green New Deal, followed by the above-mentioned GND Create-athon the weekend after.

While we’re not at the point yet where CAN artists’ work is considered essential enough to be supported by government programs, the network is using its platform to raise funds for the organization at the frontlines of the Green New Deal campaign: Sunrise Movement. They’ve also generously made their artwork available to The Art of the Green New Deal, which you can see throughout the pages of this magazine. Having access to such amazing artwork has truly been a gift that amplifies not only our publication but in turn lifts up all the creative people and projects we feature, adding just one more push to all our ultimate goal of bringing about the most ambitious Green New Deal programs possible.

Beyond just the posters, CAN artists’ creations are available on calendars, pins, buttons, t-shirts, and even socks. Here are a couple of teasers, but check out their Green New Deal store and help support the cause!