Student fees are slated to rise again next semester. The Business building was recently taken over, and police quelled a riot involving students just a few nights ago. A statewide education system strike is due in early March. The spirit of '68 is alive and kicking around SF State, and the art department is getting in on the action. A lot like the last time.

Opening Feb. 11 in the Cesar Chavez Student Center Art Gallery is an exhibit entitled "The Art of Protest" featuring political posters from the student strike in 1968 and original work submitted by members of the SF State community.

"The message from these pieces are still strong today," said Molly Cox, a sophomore majoring in art history and textiles. Cox, who is also the gallery's curator, explained that these examples "laid a foundation for speaking out without fear of repercussion."

The majority of these pieces are attributed to unknown artists for this very purpose. Almost all of them are silk screens.

"Renegade students and faculty kept the print lab open," said Cox. "At the time, the entire campus had been shut down except the print lab."

Strikers used the posters two-fold. Not only to get their message out, but also to rescue members of the cause.

"Posters were sold to bail people out of jail," said Mark Johnson, director of the Fine Arts Gallery.

Over 700 people were arrested on various protest-related charges during the infamous 1968 strike, a far greater number than the 14 detained from the Business building occupation in December. "It will be interesting to see the artistic similarities between that generation, and those that deal with the problems we have today," said Johnson.

"We're hoping students get excited by what past generations did," said Paige Wheeler, an Art History Grad student and assistant manager of the art gallery. "There are a lot of striking pieces in this collection."

Perhaps the most of which is "Down With the Whiteness", one of the few pieces with a known artist. Rupert Garcia's silk screen depicts '60's activist H. Rap Brown, a black man, tangling with a white police officer, with the words of the title hanging above the scene.

"Some of these figures may be unfamiliar now," said Johnson, Professor of Art since 1994. "People forget who Hayakawa was, who H. Rap Brown was, or that Ronald Reagan was governor."

One piece shows a silhouette of S. I. Hayakawa, who was appointed SF State President during the strikes, smooching Reagan's rear end. Hayakawa had made rallies illegal and threatened to suspend striking students and faculty.

"This collection is an important legacy of who we are as a school," said Johnson, who found a number of the silk screens in library storage, and said that even more would be available if not for the library's current renovations under way.

Cox expects 200-300 visitors for the exhibit's three-hour opening on Feb. 11. The pieces from the '68 strike period will be covered with the contemporary pieces, as guests will be treated to musical performances, guest speakers, and free cake.

"This is just whetting the appetite of what's to come this semester from the art department," said Johnson.

The deadline for submissions was Feb. 1. The gallery opening is Feb. 11 from 5-8 p.m. and admission is free.