The Peru Gazette

Upcoming stamps honor Pete Seeger, Katharine Graham, Edmonia Lewis and women cryptologists of World War II, commemorate passage of Title IX and the establishment of the National Marine Sanctuary System and much more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service has announced several new stamps to be issued in 2022.

“The new 2022 stamps are miniature works of art, designed to be educational and appeal to collectors and pen pals around the world,” said USPS Stamp Services Director William Gicker. “As always, the program offers a variety of subjects celebrating American culture and history. The vivid colors and unique designs of this year’s selections will add a special touch of beauty on your envelopes.”

This is a partial list of the 2022 stamp program, with more to be announced in the weeks and months ahead. All stamp designs are preliminary and subject to change.

Lunar New Year — Year of the Tiger

The third of 12 stamps in the latest Lunar New Year stamp series celebrates the Year of the Tiger. Calling to mind the elaborately decorated masks used in the dragon or lion dances often performed in Lunar New Year parades, this three-dimensional mask depicting a tiger is a contemporary take on the long tradition of paper-cut folk art crafts created during this auspicious time of year. The tiger mask design incorporates colors and patterns symbolic to the holiday. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp and pane with original art by Camille Chew.

Blueberries

The new 4-cent Blueberries stamp will be available for sale in panes of 20 and coils of 3,000 and 10,000. The stamp features a pen, ink and watercolor illustration of a cluster of blueberries and leaves. Blueberries will join other similarly designed low- denomination stamps available separately for purchase: 1-cent Apples, 2-cent Meyer Lemons, 3-cent Strawberries, 5-cent Grapes and 10-cent Pears. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps using existing illustrations by John Burgoyne.

U.S. Flags

The Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating the U.S. flag with this stamp, which will be available in panes of 20, booklets of 20, and coils of 100, 3,000 and 10,000. The stamp art is a painting of three flags in a circular formation, reminiscent of the 50 flags encircling the Washington Monument. The artist used three photographs of the same flag taken seconds apart as reference and stitched together the images into a single composition. Laura Stutzman was the stamp designer and illustrator. Ethel Kessler was the art director.

Love 2022

The two new Love stamps celebrate the joy that flowers bring. Inspired by old European folk art, the stamps feature digital illustrations with similar designs: three round, stylized blooms ranging symmetrically along the top, with smaller round blossoms in each of the lower corners. The background color of one stamp is powder blue, and the other

is coral. Twisting vines, which hold small multi-petaled flowers, form abstract heart shapes. The letters of the word “LOVE” are interspersed among the decorative vines. Bailey Sullivan designed the stamps and created the original art. Greg Breeding was the art director.

Edmonia Lewis

The 45th stamp in the Black Heritage series honors sculptor Edmonia Lewis (circa 1844-1907). As the first African American and Native American sculptor to achieve international recognition, Lewis challenged social barriers and assumptions about artists in mid-19th century America. The stamp art is a casein-on-wood portrait of Lewis, based on a photograph taken in Boston between 1864 and 1871. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp with original art by Alex Bostic.

Butterfly Garden Flowers

The two nondenominated Butterfly Garden Flowers stamps are intended for bulk mailings by authorized nonprofit organizations. Each stamp features one of two flowers that butterflies love to visit: scabiosas or cosmos. Inspired by block-printed textile and pattern design, the artist hand-carved the images into linoleum blocks. After inking the blocks, she pressed them onto paper, scanned the images and added color digitally. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps with original art by Rigel Stuhmiller.

Mountain Flora

These four new stamps celebrate the beauty of mountain flowers. Each Mountain Flora stamp features a different flower: a purple pasqueflower, an orange-red wood lily, a bright yellow alpine buttercup and a dark pink Woods’ rose. The artist’s hand-drawn illustrations, refined digitally, create a block-print aesthetic. The stamps will be issued in booklets of 20 and coils of 3,000 and 10,000. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps with original art by Lili Arnold.