Stand In Solidarity With Leonard Peltier
4/24/21
“People can stand on the feet and have their photo taken, or they can sit next to them; it’s up to them. It’s an opportunity to show support, and also to experience a moment of communion.” – Rigo 23
Dear Friends,
We invite you to a special event in Richmond Art Center’s courtyard this Saturday to have your photograph taken with the feet from artist Rigo 23’s statue of Native American activist and political prisoner, Leonard Peltier.
Stand on the feet of the statue in support of Peltier, political prisoners, and all Indigenous peoples facing persecution.
Stand In Solidarity With Leonard Peltier
Saturday, April 24, 1pm-3pm
Richmond Art Center
2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond (enter via Barrett Ave)
Special guests Kathy Peltier, Leonard Peltier’s daughter, and Anne Begay – co-founder of American Indian Movement’s Denver chapter and Kathy’s mother – will be at the event to meet participants. Kathy and Anne will also have some of their handmade jewelry and beaded work available for purchase, as they prepare to go visit Leonard very soon.
Participants will be photographed by artist Río Yañez, and all photographs will become part of the project’s archive. A selection of Yañez’s photographs taken during the event will be exhibited with Rigo’s Leonard Peltier statue at Richmond Art Center later this year.
Hope to see you this Saturday!!
In community,
Richmond Art Center
Important Event Info:
- Wear a mask and be prepared to practice social distancing
- No appointments, folks will be photographed in the order they arrive. We apologize in advance if we don’t have time to photograph everyone!!
- Enter Richmond Art Center via Barrett Avenue, we will direct you to the courtyard via the West Gallery.
- Please note, the inside spaces of Richmond Art Center’s facility remain closed. No access to the galleries, studios or restrooms is available at this time.
About the Work: Rigo 23’s 12-foot-high likeness of Leonard Peltier, a Native activist incarcerated since 1977, is based on a small hand painted self-portrait that Peltier created in prison. Rigo 23 began work on this statue in 2016 and before it was first installed at American University, Rigo took its feet to sites of Native significance across the U.S., including Alcatraz Island, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. He then invited supporters to stand and be photographed on the feet of Peltier in solidarity. Since 2016 the statue of Leonard Peltier has toured all over America (most recently to SFAI) and hundreds of photos of people with its feet have been taken. Later this year Rigo 23’s statue will be exhibited at Richmond Art Center accompanied by a selection of these photos.
About Rigo 23: Rigo 23 has exhibited his work internationally for over 30 years placing murals, paintings, sculptures, and tile work in public situations where viewers are encouraged to examine their relationship to their community, their role as unwitting advocates of public policy, and their place on a planet occupied by many other living things. His projects have included inter-communal collaborations with Native Tribes in North and South America; long-term partnerships with political prisoners; and alliances with underrepresented and disenfranchised individuals and communities. Rigo’s first solo exhibition Time and Time Again: A tribute to Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt was presented at Richmond Art Center in 1996.
Top Image: Photo by Marc Chiat
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