LAWRENCE - Lance Hidy's artwork has received the stamp of approval from the U.S. Postal Service.
Hidy, an art professor at Northern Essex Community College and owner of Lance Hidy Associates studio for arts and design in Merrimac, has designed three stamps for the Postal Service - the latest of which was put into circulation in September.
That stamp - 40,000 of which were printed - showcases the importance of jury duty in a democratic society.
"I feel great knowing that my work of art is being loved, preserved and cared for by people all over the world," Hidy said yesterday at a lecture at Northern Essex Community College, Amesbury Street campus. His stamp was projected on a large screen as state Jury Commissioner Pamela Wood spoke on the history and importance of jury duty in Massachusetts.
The stamp features the silhouettes of 12 people - the number of people who serve during a trial - in a rainbow of colors from red, gold, green, violet and magenta. It reads, "Jury Duty" on the top and "Serve with Pride" at the bottom.
Hidy said he chose to focus on the diversity of jurors.
Models for the profiles included his wife, Cindia Sanford; his daughter; friends; and co-workers and students at Northern Essex.
"All I had to do was look in the classroom for different facial shapes," he said.
This is the third stamp Hidy created for the Postal Service. The first was about mentoring and reads, "Mentor a Child." His second stamp was "Special Olympics," which is similar to the jury duty stamp in that it also highlights diversity. On the stamp is an athlete wearing a medal, holding his hands high in the air while holding the hands of fellow competitors.
"I'm not so much interested in art, but in communication," Hidy said. "By working with images, I have the advantage of not being limited by language. The images don't have to be translated; they are understood immediately."
Raised in Portland, Ore., Hidy credits his father's fly fishing photography as his inspiration for becoming an artist
Hidy has also taught at Boston University, University of Kansas and Mary Baldwin College in Virginia.
Hidy has been doing illustration and art for as long as he can remember and has worked with famed photographer Ansel Adams in "Yosemite and the Range of Light." The typeface he created and called penumbra was used as the lettering on "The Da Vinci Code" movie poster.
Hidy, an art professor at Northern Essex Community College and owner of Lance Hidy Associates studio for arts and design in Merrimac, has designed three stamps for the Postal Service - the latest of which was put into circulation in September.
That stamp - 40,000 of which were printed - showcases the importance of jury duty in a democratic society.
"I feel great knowing that my work of art is being loved, preserved and cared for by people all over the world," Hidy said yesterday at a lecture at Northern Essex Community College, Amesbury Street campus. His stamp was projected on a large screen as state Jury Commissioner Pamela Wood spoke on the history and importance of jury duty in Massachusetts.
The stamp features the silhouettes of 12 people - the number of people who serve during a trial - in a rainbow of colors from red, gold, green, violet and magenta. It reads, "Jury Duty" on the top and "Serve with Pride" at the bottom.
Hidy said he chose to focus on the diversity of jurors.
Models for the profiles included his wife, Cindia Sanford; his daughter; friends; and co-workers and students at Northern Essex.
"All I had to do was look in the classroom for different facial shapes," he said.
This is the third stamp Hidy created for the Postal Service. The first was about mentoring and reads, "Mentor a Child." His second stamp was "Special Olympics," which is similar to the jury duty stamp in that it also highlights diversity. On the stamp is an athlete wearing a medal, holding his hands high in the air while holding the hands of fellow competitors.
"I'm not so much interested in art, but in communication," Hidy said. "By working with images, I have the advantage of not being limited by language. The images don't have to be translated; they are understood immediately."
Raised in Portland, Ore., Hidy credits his father's fly fishing photography as his inspiration for becoming an artist
Hidy has also taught at Boston University, University of Kansas and Mary Baldwin College in Virginia.
Hidy has been doing illustration and art for as long as he can remember and has worked with famed photographer Ansel Adams in "Yosemite and the Range of Light." The typeface he created and called penumbra was used as the lettering on "The Da Vinci Code" movie poster.
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