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Songs of Our Own: The Art of the Grateful Dead Phenomenon

Exhibit Guide

Exhibit poster by Gary Houston

Welcome to the online guide to “Songs of Our Own: The Art of the Grateful Dead Phenomenon,” a previous exhibit in Dead Central at UC Santa Cruz (April 2013-April 2014) exploring art that documented, celebrated, and inspired the Grateful Dead and their fans.

Materials included in the exhibit, drawn from the Grateful Dead's archive held in Special Collections & Archives, included art from Jerry Garcia’s student days at the California School of Fine Arts, the poster renaissance of the Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, from the increasingly sophisticated art created by Deadheads in the 1970s, and work made by band members themselves in the 1990s.

 

“I’ve come to realize that the art movement that accompanied the rise of the Dead is as much a part of what we became in the public eye as the songs and our playing of them.”

Robert Hunter, Lyricist, 2003 

 

This guide provides a brief outline of the exhibit with a checklist of works exhibited, credits, and a list of sources for further reading.

Exhibit poster created by Gary Houston (copyright UCSC Special Collections)