"The San Francisco Poster Syndicate originated in 2014, when adjunct instructors at San Francisco Art Institute were forming a union. Art Hazelwood, one of the syndicate's founding members, taught screen-printing there and was part of the bargaining team. He and his students started printing posters using salvaged "slop ink" - everything leftover from a day of art classes, mixed together in a bucket - and put them all over campus. The posters of that era were all gray, Hazelwood, now 64, recalls."
""People are always surprised, 'Oh, it's free? Do I need to pay for it or something?'" said Logan, an artist with the syndicate. "But we are doing this in community, for the community. It feels like we're putting out there the world we want to see. Not everything has to be about money." The goal, Logan said, is that "if we make something beautiful, you may want to hang it on your fridge.""
The San Francisco Poster Syndicate is a collective of about 20 screen-printing artists who produce free posters at protests and community actions across San Francisco. Members perform live printing at events, lifting and lowering metal screens and pushing ink through stenciled designs made by syndicate artists. In 2025 the group distributed at least 10,000 free posters, an estimate based on paper used. The syndicate began in 2014 amid adjunct instructors forming a union at the San Francisco Art Institute; founders and students printed posters using salvaged "slop ink." The syndicate collaborates with students, fast-food workers and unions on campaigns including Fight for $15.
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