About This Stamp
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held in the small farming community of Bethel, New York, in August 1969, was the most famous rock festival in history and an expression of the youth counterculture of the 1960s. Possibly as many as 500,000 members of the “Woodstock Generation,” a term later used in reference to young people of the time, convened for what was promoted as “3 DAYS of PEACE & MUSIC.”
The Postal Service™ issued the Woodstock stamp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. The stamp art features an image of a dove along with the words “3 DAYS OF PEACE AND MUSIC,” evoking the original promotional poster for the festival. In the iconic 1969 poster, designed by graphic artist Arnold Skolnick, the dove was perched on the neck of a guitar. In the stamp art, the words are stacked in the background in brilliant colors along with the year 1969, USA, and Forever (the value of the stamp). The white dove stands in the foreground.
Woodstock featured more than 30 performers, an unprecedented assembly of musical talent. Some, such as Joan Baez, The Band, The Grateful Dead, The Who, and Blood, Sweat & Tears were already well known. Others, such as African-American folksinger and acoustic guitarist Richie Havens, guitarist Carlos Santana, and British singer Joe Cocker essentially made their national debut. Jimi Hendrix performed an electric guitar rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that became legendary.
An Academy Award-winning documentary film by Michael Wadleigh and a popular song about the festival by Joni Mitchell extended the communal spirit of the “Woodstock experience” to an audience of millions.
Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp.
The Woodstock (50th Anniversary) stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director, Designer, and Typographer
Antonio Alcalá
Antonio Alcalá served on the Postmaster General’s Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 2010 until 2011, when he left to become an art director for the U.S. Postal Service's stamp development program.
He is founder and co-owner of Studio A, a design practice working with museums and arts institutions. His clients include: the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Phillips Collection, and Smithsonian Institution. He also lectures at colleges including the Corcoran College of Art + Design, SVA, Pratt, and MICA.
In 2008, his work and contributions to the field of graphic design were recognized with his selection as an AIGA Fellow. He has judged international competitions for the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, AIGA, and Graphis. Alcalá also serves on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and Poster House Museum’s advisory councils. His designs are represented in the AIGA Design Archives, the National Postal Museum, and the Library of Congress Permanent Collection of Graphic Design.
Alcalá graduated from Yale University with a BA in history and from the Yale School of Art with an MFA in graphic design. He lives with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia.