Diana Huynh, a Vietnamese-American living in Little Saigon, said a new Lunar New Year mural that propped up in her neighborhood misrepresents her culture.
Huynh was among a group of Sacramento artists who approached the city’s Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Commission Monday calling out Wide Open Walls, a local mural festival, for its latest piece of art in Little Saigon which was slammed for not commissioning any Asian artists and its cultural inaccuracies.
“This misrepresentation undermines the profound significance and reduces our sacred traditions to superficial stereotypes,” Huynh said. “This perpetuates ignorance and fosters a shallow understanding and fails to represent my culture. I urge you to guide your organizers to do its due diligence before diminishing the dignity of my people.”
Artists claim that Wide Open Walls has a history of damage beyond its mural in Little Saigon and urged the commissioners to take action.
“I know you city officials, business owners and even some of you have been told similar things that are not isolated incidents of racism and racial exclusion,” said Andru Defeye, Sacramento’s poet laureate. “It’s a pattern of harm, y’all.”
Artists accused Wide Open Walls of “cultural theft,” taking advantage of upcoming artists and unethical practices.
Wide Open Walls was not present at Monday’s meeting and have not responded interview requests from The Sacramento Bee since Friday. However, in an Instagram statement last week, the organization addressed the criticism to the mural. Organizers said they “issued a call” for Asian American and Pacific Islander artists and “sought guidance” from members in the community in preparation for the mural. But, local Asian American artists dispute this claim, saying the lack of representation among the five selected artists proves not enough outreach was done.
‘There’s a lot of hurt here’
Some who spoke at Monday’s meeting alleged Wide Open Walls underpaid them or failed to compensate them for projects. Several artists said many individuals who have had bad experiences with Wide Open Walls have stayed silent due to the fear of getting blacklisted.
Rachel Kerns, a full-time artist in Sacramento, said she worked with Wide Open Walls two years ago. She said prior to working with them, she had heard “numerous stories” about the organization’s questionable practices.
Kerns said she was commissioned to paint two walls for $3,000. Kerns said this price was “unexpected” after negotiating with Wide Open Walls. She alleges that the organization who she was painting for paid Wide Open Walls $25,000 for the project.
Jolene Russell, another Sacramento-based artist who worked with Wide Open Walls said she was underpaid, under-promoted and “had the experience of being a low priority in many different aspects.” Russell’s experiences were similar to Kerns, as she alleges the company who commissioned the mural said they paid Wide Open Walls “seven times the amount” she was offered.
“Artists have a hard enough time getting paid fairly for our work in our everyday lives,” Russell said. “We do not need organizations claiming to support us when they take in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year doing nothing.”
Mass criticism about Wide Open Walls occurred last week, when local artists slammed the group for the cultural inaccuracies in its Lunar New Year mural in Little Saigon which featured no Asian artists.
“They are performative, exploitative and use (their murals) as a tool for gentrification,” said Franceska Gamez, a local Sacramento artist. “They have failed to listen to criticism. As much as we would love to see a mural festival in Sacramento, WOW does not exist to improve the livelihood of artists.”
Members of the commission thanked those who came forward to speak about Wide Open Walls. Luisa Lavulo, who represents District 8, said it’s clear that there are “a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
“There’s a lot of hurt here,” she said.
The commission will discuss the allegations against Wide Open Walls at its meeting next month.
