Lester Beall & A New American Identity

The Lester Beall & A New American Identity exhibition is the first to bring together Lester Beall’s complete series of posters for the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), created as part of the New Deal’s mission to modernize rural America. The exhibition design takes inspiration from Beall’s visual language, guiding viewers through his work with a focus on clarity, color, and impactful composition.

Each gallery wall serves as an exercise in visual composition, capturing Beall’s precise use of geometry, bold color, and layered graphics. Dynamic lines, thoughtfully placed colors, and overlapping elements create a sense of movement and depth that encourage visitors to engage with the work from multiple perspectives. Bold arrows and other directional elements add dimensionality and perspective to the space, inviting viewers to navigate naturally from one poster series to the next. To break up the gallery’s rectangular layout, angled corner walls featuring large-scale images of original photographs taken by Beall for REA Series II add dramatic focal points and activate the space.

The installation process involved a high degree of craftsmanship, with each element strategically produced and placed to enhance the tactile qualities of Beall’s original posters. Some components were hand-painted directly onto textured vinyl, adding an artisan quality that contrasts with today’s highly digital design landscape. This craft-oriented approach brings a unique three-dimensional feel to the two-dimensional medium of posters, creating a space that is both immersive and impactful.

Typography is set in Jonathan Hoefler’s Knockout, a typeface selected for its nod to American sans serif traditions and versatile range of widths and weights. Knockout’s design complements the exhibition’s structure, supporting interpretive texts with both boldness and adaptability, while reinforcing the exhibition’s emphasis on strong, clear communication.

With its cohesive color palette, structural rhythm, and thoughtful layering, the exhibition design amplifies Beall’s legacy and demonstrates the ongoing relevance of his innovative approach to American modernism. Every design detail—from the typography to the layered compositions—works to create an immersive, powerful experience to honor Beall’s contributions to graphic design.