Gente De Tu Barrio: Difference between revisions

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|subject=Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Racial/Ethnic
|subject=Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Racial/Ethnic
|confronting_bodies=San Francisco Bay Area Transit Authority
|confronting_bodies=San Francisco Bay Area Transit Authority
|medium=Public Art, Public Speech
|medium=Mixed Media, Public Art
|date_of_action=September 2015
|date_of_action=September 2015
|location=San Francisco, United States of America
|location=San Francisco, United States of America

Revision as of 00:14, 9 December 2015

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Artist: Victor De La Rosa

Year: 2015

Date of Action: September 2015

Region: North America

Location: San Francisco, United States of America

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Racial/Ethnic

Medium: Mixed Media, Public Art

Confronting Bodies: San Francisco Bay Area Transit Authority

Description of Artwork: La Gente De Tu Barrio / The People of Your Neighborhood [The Mission Suite], by Victor De la Rosa, engages gentrification in the San Francisco Mission neighborhood, featuring local residents and their view on four textile panels.

A panel featuring a photo of local resident Micky "Tiny Loca" Martinez prominently states, "Bitch, you're not from here!" in bold typeface. Each panel has a border of typed contrasts, such as "Us Vs. Them" and "Pour-Over Vs. Nescafe."

The Incident: De La Rosa was commissioned by the City of San Francisco in February 2015 to create artwork regarding the Mission neighborhood. His panels were intended to be placed in the plaza at the BART 16th St. Mission station in September 2015.

However, the Bay Area Transit Authority (BART) rejected the "Tiny Loca" panel due to the use of the word "bitch" and confrontational tone. The agency stated they were still developing a public art policy and held the work to the standards of their advertising policy. Blurring the word "bitch" was rejected by BART because they stated it would not revise the "overall demeaning tone of the message in that panel." De la Rosa would not have participated in any edits.

BART offered to feature the other three panels, but De la Rosa refused, viewing the contested panel as integral to the work. In late October, De la Rosa and supporters placed copies of the contested panel on plaza display cases and spoke with locals.

On December 4, 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the National Coalition Against Censorship submitted a letter to BART, arguing the refusal to place the "Tiny Loca" panel was viewpoint discrimination and contrary to the First Amendment.

Results of Incident: As of December 2015, BART refuses to place the "Tiny Loca" panel.

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