In September 2012, I purchased ad space in Washington DC’s Metro system to strategically display some of my posters at busy Metro stations close to the Capitol and K Street (the epicenter for the nation’s lobbyists). The 2012 general elections were nearing their final, fevered pitch. Legislators have taken the Metro from time to time. But their staffs always do. And this was an opportunity to engage them and other commuters before the election. I often stood in front of these posters, talking with viewers about the Congressional gridlock we were witnessing.
I was the first artist to buy ads in the subway system. But I couldn’t do so now. In 2015, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) banned all issue-oriented ads from the Metro system after the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) founder Pamela Geller wanted to post the winning drawing of the prophet Mohammed. Geller, a staunch anti-Islamist, had previously opposed building a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City. And the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled the AFDI a hate group. To pass judicial review, WMATA banned all political and culturally sensitive advertising.
In 2017, WMATA also rejected former Egyptian political prisoner Mohamed Soltan’s bid to place a series of ads on Egypt’s human rights offenses on similar grounds. His campaign was to run during the Washington visit of Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi. And in 2019, the Supreme Court refused to hear the Catholic Church’s suit against WMATA, which rejected ads by the Archdiocese of Washington. The Metro banned all religious ads as well.
Media Coverage:
“These Remixed WWII-Style Election Posters: What Are They Saying?” (The Atlantic)
“The Chamomile Tea Party” at Curator’s Office” (Washington City Paper, November 2, 2012)
“Subway Posters Aim to Return Civility to Politics” (The Washington Post)
“Ads Pushing Civility in Politics” (News Story and Interview with Washington, DC’s Fox Affiliate, WTTG)
“Anti-party-politics-as-usual posters up in DC Metro” (BoingBoing)
“WW II Propaganda Posters Reimagined as Modern Protest Ads” (Adweek)
“New Metro Ads Seek to Fight Back Against Partisan Politics” (DCist)
