Poster House was incorporated in 2015 and opened to the public on June 20, 2019.[4][5] Its logo was designed byPaula Scher ofPentagram.[6] The museum space, which formerly housed anApple products repair store by the name ofTekserve, was redesigned byLTL Architects and Lumen Architecture.[7][8]
When Poster House opened in 2019, its permanent collection contained approximately 7,000 posters from 100 different countries.[6] This included 3,000 pieces related to the2017 Women's March as well as 98 Subway Series posters.[6][9] The Subway Series donation was made by theSchool of Visual Arts. It includes works byMilton Glaser,Louise Fili, and Paula Scher.[9]
The museum's collection contains works ranging from the late 1800s through the present day.[4] The contemporary works are contained in a living archive that Poster House adds to on a regular basis.[10][11] The museum draws from both its historic and contemporary collections to stage exhibitions focused on a particular artist, movement, or theme.[10]
Poster House's first exhibition, in June 2019, featured more than 80 posters by the Czech graphic designerAlphonse Mucha.[5] A February 2020 exhibition calledThe Swiss Grid examined influentialSwiss design and typographic style.[12]
In April 2021, Poster House held an exhibition featuring the work ofJulius Klinger.[13] In September 2021, the museum openedYou Can't Bleed Me, which displayed posters and marketing materials from notableBlaxploitation films such asSlaughter andCoffy.[14] That same month, it opened an exhibition containing over 200 posters from the New York-based design and illustration firmPush Pin Studios.[15]
In March 2022, Poster House openedEthel Reed: I Am My Own Person, a show featuring poster and magazine cover illustrationsReed designed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[16][17]
Black Power to Black People, an exhibition featuring the history, art, and branding of theBlack Panther Party, began in March 2023.[18] That month also marked the opening ofMade in Japan, which focused on World War II andPost-War Era Japanese poster art.[19] Other 2023 exhibitions includedArt Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde, a 53-piece show examining the use ofArt Deco in mid-century advertisements, andWe Tried To Warn You!, which featured environmental movement posters and advertisements from the 1970s through the 2000s.[20][21]
In April 2020, Poster House andPrint collaborated on a public safety campaign called#CombatCOVID. The campaign employed graphic designers includingJessica Hische,Maira Kalman, andEdel Rodriguez, who created a series of posters communicating public safety guidelines and encouraging sentiment to New York City residents.[22][23] These posters were displayed on approximately 1,700 digital advertising spaces across the five boroughs.[23]
Poster House also partnered with food writer and historianGrace Young to createCoronavirus: Chinatown Stories, a video series in which Young documented the difficulties small businesses in Manhattan'sChinatown were experiencing during the pandemic.[24][25] Young received the 2022Julia Child Award, in part due to her work on the series.[26] The award was presented to her by Poster House's Julia Knight.[27]
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