It was a tough call, but after much quibbling and hand-wringing, a distinguished jury from the East Bay Express art department plucked one winner from more than a dozen “Best of the East Bay” cover design submissions. The honor went to 24 year-old Ben Peck, whose portrait combined elements of Emanuel Leutze’s iconic 1851 oil painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware, with familiar tropes from East Bay culture. Instead of showing a famed general and several mariners braced for their surprise ambush on the Hessians, Peck drew an aged Hells Angel (or East Bay Rat), an A’s fan, a barrista, a protester, a cop, a guy with giant headphones, and a few other contemporary local archetypes.
- Ben Peck
- Revolution Cover
