OUR LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE GATEWAY ARCH May 05 2011


To be from the mid-west and visit the Gateway Arch is a right of passage and for some a pilgrimage. It seems like it's always been a part of the St. Louis skyline, though construction began on the structure in 1963, and it's what separates the city of St. Louis from so many other urban centers of similar size and situation. There is nothing like driving upon St. Louis from the east and seeing the Arch looming in the distance. We're quite smitten. It IS amazing.
The stainless steel marvel must've felt our yearning because roughly two years ago (2009) we started talking with folks at the Arch about reproducing an architectural rendering that they had hanging in their offices. The rendering (above) was done by an engineering firm, but has mysterious origins. It shows a detail of the pod that passengers ride to the top of the Arch, in full-color ink and pencil, on paper that's been stained by years of sitting in (what was probably) a smoke-filled office. The Firecracker Press jumped at the chance but, as many projects like this go, we had to be patient.
Early in 2011 all the parties that need to be involved in something like this found themselves in the same room.The ball got rolling to make the idea a reality. We started redrawing the original drawing, began a little research, and developed a plan to transform the raw materials into a retail friendly poster image. A few month later we finally have our completed poster and couldn't be more pleased by the opportunity to work on something so dear to us. Get your limited edition print here.