Students, alumni and stamp collectors of all ages gathered on the fourth floor of the James E. Walker Library for “Bluegrass Forever: the Making of a First Class Stamp,” to hear how an MTSU alum put her personal stamp on United States Postal Service history.
On April 9, Susan Martin, the Special Collections Librarian at MTSU, introduced Heather Moulder, MTSU alum and designer of the USPS Bluegrass Forever stamp. Dressed in blue and white stripes and Blundstone boots, Moulder took questions and comments from philatelists and others gathered before her.
A small group gathered to hear about her creative process for this stamp, as well as her background designing art for album covers, posters and more. After the presentation, the age-diverse crowd would gather to “get inky” in Moulder’s words, and press some art of their own.
The stamp, issued on March 15, 2024, features four instruments typically seen in bluegrass bands: guitar, five-string banjo, fiddle and mandolin.
Moulder shared an array of sketches, with different design concepts that she worked through figuring out what did and didn’t make sense for the stamp. Many of the original designs were much more detail oriented, with song references hidden in the background These designs were ruled out because once shrunken down to the size of a stamp, they became jumbled and hard to make sense of.
The final inspiration came after watching fiddlers in Nashville, and seeing the way bluegrass bands work together around a singular mic. All imagery was carved in wood and pressed with ink onto paper.
“What I was thinking of as I created this image was that kind of band leading together and what I was seeing at that concert.” Moulder said.
Moulder described the experience of watching the fiddlers work together. With only one shared mic on the stage, every musician leans in for their turn, while everyone else regulates their sound levels leaning in and out, she explained.
The making of a stamp is no quick process. Each year, the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee chooses stamps — and yes, they accept suggestions from the public that meet the following criteria:the design must feature elements of American society, history, culture or environment. No living people can be featured on a stamp, and time-sensitive proposals must be submitted at least three years in advance.
The committee includes people with deep backgrounds in stamp collecting and stamp history, many with backgrounds in media and design as well.
The committee chose to work on this particular design after the bluegrass theme was chosen and her art director reached out to her in search of someone with her artistic style.
Moulder immersed herself in bluegrass music, starting with a return to her first ever impression of bluegrass —a Flatt and Scruggs “Live at Vanderbilt” record she remembered her grandpa playing over and over.
“To me, bluegrass is very experiential music,” Moulder said. “Like you’re in it.” Seeing old time musicians at a festival like Uncle Dave Macon Days is Moulder’s ideal way to experience music, she said.
For Moulder, having the stamp release program at the Bluegrass Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, was a no-brainer. The stamp was unveiled by musician Ricky Skaggs, and the event featured cloggers and the national anthem played on a banjo, all things that she never imagined would be applied to her work.
“As a graphic designer, I never thought I’d be signing autographs.” she said. Moulder remembered the sight of collectors lining up outside the door to obtain these stamps.
Moulder was proudest of her hometown release at the post office in Readyville, Tennessee, where people came from all around to obtain stamps. Two tractors drove by and interrupted the special program, she said.
After Moulder’s talk, she gave a hands-on demonstration of her printing process to the intimate crowd, before sending them on their way with small prints of their own.
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