Signs of the Times

DJ Stout and his team at Pentagram Austin invite you to join them on Saturday, March 21 for a fundraising party to help the homeless and to celebrate the release of Pentagram Papers 39: Signs. Designed by Stout, Signs is a collaboration with legendary Texas musician Joe Ely and renowned photographers Michael O’Brien and Randal Ford that focuses on the issue of homelessness. Donations received during the event will benefit Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a 501(c)(3) social outreach ministry for the homeless and indigent working poor. The event is free and open to the public—download the invitation poster here.

Stout, Ely, O’Brien and Ford hope Signs attracts attention to the current state of homelessness in our own communities and around the world. To support the book’s creation, Ely contributed a series of homeless signs he collected over the years and wrote a compelling foreword for the book that recounts his brief experience of homelessness after he jumped on a freight train out of Lubbock, Texas when he was 17 years old. Ely’s sign collection was photographed by Ford, and these images are juxtaposed with portraits of the homeless shot by O’Brien.

Complimentary copies of Signs will be distributed at the party, and Ely, O’Brien and Stout will all be on hand to sign books. Musician Darden Smith and band will be performing, and Sharon Ely will be serving up her famous Holy Pozole soup!

When: Saturday, March 21, 7 pm
Where: Pentagram Design, 1508 West 5th Street in Austin
RSVP: howdy@texas.pentagram.com

The event coincides with the final night of SXSW, so if you’re in town, please drop by! For those unable to attend, signed copies of Signs will be available by mail for a suggested donation of $20 to Mobile Loaves and Fishes. Please email howdy@texas.pentagram.com for details.