A street art fave: 228s

Postal stickers as ubiquitous substrate

Anywhere there is street art, you’re very likely to see works on 228s, the USPS stickers for priority mail. Dan wrote about the history and evolution of 228s last week. He calls 228s "the greatest federal arts program since the WPA," and he's not wrong. Their ubiquity speaks for itself.

Artists use paint and markers on 228s

We see Arte Agora works on 228s everywhere we go. And everywhere means everywhere; their omnipresence isn’t limited to the U.S. In our travels we have seen it, and we know of many international artists who use 228s as the substrate for their art.

Berlin-based international artist xz_one (find him with that handle on IG) prints his art on 228s

Some artists hand draw, or paint on the stickers. Others use stencils or printing methods to transfer art.

This artist uses different colors of paint and reverses the images to change up the look of their work on 228s.

Some artists create art with a ballpoint pen.

There are even artists who take the concept of the 228, and create their own stickers that mimic 228s—and those can vary in size.

This artist created a “fake” 228 as background for this printed sticker.

Dan even created a poster size 228 for a series he did before the 2020 presidential election.

Dan's 228 posters with various messages in 2020.

Now that you know to look for it, you cannot miss the art on USPS 228 stickers.