Press Release: Fencelines Public Artwork Stolen
Press Release: Fencelines Public Artwork Stolen
Large-scale art installation confronting Chevron refinery in Richmond is stolen
Richmond, CA: The Fencelines public art project was stolen from a fence along the Richmond Parkway in North Richmond sometime between May 15 and May 16. The artwork was nearly one thousand feet long and made up of hundreds of painted fence slats.
The Fencelines project team released a letter in response to the theft. The letter reads, in part, “Collectively and in community with paint and words we built a Monument to Richmond’s Resilience in the ongoing struggle for environmental justice. In what we must understand as an attempt to silence our voices and erase our stories, the Fencelines public art has been completely disappeared.”
Read the full letter here: https://richmondartcenter.org/announcements/fencelines-letter
Fencelines centered circumstances of environmental injustice through a public art installation along the Richmond Parkway, where a chainlink fence separates Richmond residential neighborhoods from the Chevron petroleum refinery. The public artwork comprised colorful fence slats attached to the fence and adorned with ribbons animating the direction of the wind. Over the past year at community workshops in Richmond hundreds of individuals and families recorded their stories and messages on these slats, documenting the impact of the petroleum industry on many lives and together forming a collective monument to resilience.
The artwork was installed on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, during a special event hosted by Richmond LAND. Community volunteers – including Richmond’s newly elected mayor Eduardo Martinez – came together to install the slats.
The Fencelines project team is appealing to the general public for information about the whereabouts of the artwork. Anyone with information should contact Roberto Martinez at roberto@richmondartcenter.org
A Community Response Forum will be held on June 3, 12pm-2pm at Richmond Art Center. All community members are invited to this event to learn more about the Fencelines project and talk about what a response to the theft should look like. Folks will also have an opportunity to paint new art pieces to collectively take a stance against the attempted erasure of their stories.
About the Project Team: Fencelines is co-created by local artists and organizers – Graham L.P., Princess Robinson, and Gita Khandagle – and members of the Richmond Community working in partnership with the City of Richmond’s Love Your Block, Richmond Art Center, Richmond Our Power Coalition, and Richmond LAND.
For more information contact: Roberto Martinez, roberto@richmondartcenter.org
Top image: A detail of the Fencelines public artwork before it was stolen.
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