Wide Open Walls organizes Lunar New Year mural in Sacramento — with no Asian artists
A new Tet and Lunar New Year mural in Little Saigon has circulated criticism online after it was revealed no Asian artists were hired for the project.
Wide Open Walls, a community mural company, organized the project and postponed the Saturday event to unveil the mural citing “considerable rain and wind in recent weeks” which disrupted the schedule and artists could not complete the mural, according to an Instagram post from the organization the mural is painted on.
Wide Open Walls describes themselves online as a organization that “promotes diversity through artistic expression.” Wide Open Walls has completed numerous projects in Sacramento, including the Johnny Cash mural downtown and the anti-racism mural at Sacramento State.
This project, located on Stockton Boulevard on the Well Space Health building, was set to be unveiled Saturday, which marks Lunar New Year. Earlier this week, as Wide Open Walls touted the event on Instagram, a flurry of comments from local artists and community members criticized the project.
Wide Open Walls responded with its own Instagram comment. The group 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. They said artist selection was determined by “project requirements and artist availability.”
But, local Asian American artists dispute this claim, saying the lack of representation among the five selected artists proves not enough outreach was done. The Lunar New Year mural, critics of the project said, includes inaccurate cultural depictions.
Local AAPI artists condemn the mural
Jamie Pesquiza Cardnes, a Filipinx artist, said that the inclusion of a Kalinga warrior is misplaced. She said that the Kalinga people, an Indigenous group from the Cordillera Mountain Range of the northern Philippines, don’t celebrate Lunar New Year. Nor do Filipinos, she said.
“There shouldn’t be a Filipino mural in the middle of Little Saigon,” Cardnes said. “It’s kind of laughable at this point.”
Lee Lo, executive director of the Asian American Liberation Network, said the depictions included in the mural are “surface level.” Lo said the lack of representation lends itself to the perpetuation that the multitudes of ethnic groups included under the Asian American umbrella are “one in the same.”
“The lack of Asian American representation and engagement really results into a mural that doesn’t accurately represent the mission and intentionality that they’re trying to serve a community,” Lo said.
Megan Sapigao, director of special projects of Everyday Impact Consulting, said the project is not “culturally informed.”
Sapigao said there are plenty of local AAPI artists and storytellers who deserved to be contractors on this project.
In her role at Everyday Impact Consulting, she also serves as the project director of a Filipino Ethnic Media collaborative, the Laban Group, which is commissioning local artists for an anti-Asian hate campaign.
She said that to not hire AAPI artists not only speaks to a larger issue with representation and diversity, but a disservice to underrepresented communities.
“The community is tired of being extracted from and they’re tired of being exploited. There’s no return or investment,” Sapigao said. “They’re really tired of others telling their stories for them.”
As a result of controversy online, Wide Open Walls said they will address public concerns.
The organization said in an Instagram statement that they will be holding a community forum with an a “open dialogue and collaboration allowing us to be (a) better partner with our neighborhood and cultural representatives to create meaningful and inclusive experiences for all.”
Wide Open Walls and the artists involved in this project did not respond to a interview requests.
This story was originally published February 10, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to correct the title of Megan Sapigao as director of special projects at Everyday Impact Consulting.
