Poster 5

#(5) MIME TROUPE:

Edition of 1000 of which nine copies are signed.

1970 Three colors 17-1/2" x 24"

Client: Linda Post, Public Relations, San Francisco Mime Troupe

Photo: Roger Mulkey Model: Jennie Stone

All signed copies to The Poster, San Francisco

The Mime Troupe didn't actually like this poster very much, and I don't know if the intervening years have warmed them to it or not. There aren't many copies anyway, so it scarcely matters. This was one of my earliest lessons in finding out just who, exactly, is in charge of things and dealing with that person if at all possible. The person who asked me to design the poster, and who approved it, did not in fact have the authority to do so, it seemed.

The motif of lions leaping from a shouting mouth made perfect sense to me, at the time. It seemed to me that lions were somewhat circus-like, as well as symbolic of powerful social protest. But, not everyone agreed. I don't even know if they ever used the poster. I also can't remember if I ever got paid for it, or whether it was another of those useful lessons that artists never seem to learn quite right. I wonder where Jennie Stone is today. She had such a lovely smile.