Joanna Smith was sentenced today for damaging the case of Edgar Degas. Little dancer sculpture in 2023.
National Art Gallery
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National Art Gallery
Joanna Smith was sentenced today for damaging the case of Edgar Degas. Little dancer sculpture in 2023.
National Art Gallery
A climate activist accused of defacing an Edgar Degas sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., last year was sentenced in federal court Friday.
Joanna Smith, 54, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to 60 days in prison of a maximum possible sentence of five years for smearing red and black paint on the case surrounding the Degas case. Little fourteen year old dancer on April 27, 2023. The 1881 artwork is on permanent display at the museum.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Smith to serve 24 months of supervised release and 150 hours of community service, 10 of which must consist of cleaning up graffiti. Smith must pay restitution for the damage to the Degas exhibit and is also banned from entering the District of Columbia and all museums and monuments for two years. (The plaintiff did not face a fine, although the maximum penalty could have included a fine of up to $250,000.)
Smith took this action with North Carolina-based climate activist Tim Martin. They are members of the climate activism group Declare Emergency.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Smith and Martin specifically targeted the artwork.
“Smith and the co-conspirator passed through security undetected with paint secreted in water bottles,” the statement said. “The duo approached the exhibit, removed the bottles from their bags and began smearing paint on the case and base.”
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The statement said the National Gallery had to remove the sculpture from public display for 10 days and gallery officials said it cost more than $4,000 to repair the damage.
“On April 27, 2023, the protective sanctuary of this beloved girl (Degas’s “Little Dancer”) was undermined. She is one of the most vulnerable and fragile works in our entire collection. I cannot emphasize enough how the violent treatment of its protection “The barrier, repeated slams and vibrations have forever endangered its stability,” said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art, in a statement to NPR “With increasing frequency, institutions – mostly nonprofit and public interest museums – have suffered collateral damage at the hands of programs that have nothing to do with museums or art. “The real damage posed by these acts of vandalism must be seriously considered to deter future incidents that continue to threaten our cultural heritage and historical memory.
“The ‘Little Dancer’ is a depiction of a vulnerable 14-year-old girl who worked at the Paris Opera. Degas’s depiction of her is magnificent and has been seen by millions, but the ‘Little Dancer’ Dancer” apparently disappeared after she was seen posing for Degas,” said a statement posted on Declare Emergency’s Instagram page explaining the action that took place at the museum last year. “Like the ‘Little Dancer,’ millions of little girls and boys will have no future because our leaders failed to act decades ago when they should have and continue to lag behind feet to end the fossil fuel-driven climate catastrophe that is engulfing us all.
Smith and Martin were taken into custody following charges. They were charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and damage to an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Smith pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, DC, last December.
Martin’s jury trial is scheduled for August 26.
A famous cause
Popularly known as “The Two Degas,” Smith and Martin have become a cause celebre in climate activism circles.
Colleagues from other climate groups have spoken out publicly on the matter.
Last June, around 20 members of Extinction Rebellion NYC and Rise and Resist protested the accusations against Martin and Smith at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Extinction Rebellion climate activist Lydia Woolley interrupted a Broadway performance last month by shouting: “Don’t forget Joanna Smith. Don’t forget Tim Martin. Don’t forget those who tell the truth. This play doesn’t end when you leave the theater.
And more than 1,000 people signed a petition before the sentencing hearing, urging Judge Amy Berman Jackson to show Smith leniency.
“Smith and Martin put their hands in water-soluble paint and left their fingerprints on the material supporting Degas’ sculpture ‘Little Dancer,’ which depicts a child. They willingly allowed themselves to be arrested for this symbolic act of civil disobedience, which did not cause any offense or harm to any person and did not result in the destruction or damage of property,” the letter to Jackson accompanying the petition states. “The right to protest in the United States and the history of symbolic, non-violent civil disobedience actions are well documented. However, these charges and this case appear to ignore past precedent and respond to these recent acts in an overly harsh manner .”
Increasing sanctions
Sanctions against climate protests have increased in recent years – and not just in the United States.
Last year, for example, two protesters from the climate campaigning group Just Stop Oil were each given sentences of more than two and a half years for scaling a bridge over the River Thames in south-east England. England, thereby causing a public nuisance. (Both men ended up serving partial sentences: Morgan was released last December and Decker last February.)
And just this week, British doctor Sarah Benn, who spent more than a month in prison after a series of climate protests, was suspended by a medical tribunal for misconduct.
In Germany, police launched raids last year against climate activists from the group Letzte Generation (Last Generation). According to an article from THE Washington Post as of May 2023, seven suspects “were charged with organizing a fundraising campaign to finance criminal activities, advertising it on their website, and having collected so far at least $1.5 million in donations.”
Wider implications
Some climate change activism experts are considering the broader impact of tougher sanctions against protesters on the movement.
“It certainly turns people off,” said James Özden, founder of the Social Change Lab, a nonprofit that studies climate activism and other social movements. “I think it’s significant that only a small number of people willing and able to take these kinds of risks take these kinds of actions.”
But Özden also said the severity of the government’s response could potentially encourage activists to take even more risks.
“Even as the penalties increase, so does people’s desire to do something about climate change, to make a change and try to help wherever they can. So I hope people continue to take these measures because they do not see a viable alternative,” he said. said.
Martin of “The Degas Two” said the inability of many people to understand the severity of the climate change crisis is the biggest obstacle to the momentum of the climate movement.
“Until climate and social justice emergencies pose a clearer and more present danger to Americans, we will not have the number of supporters we should have who are willing to risk arrest,” he said. Martin said.
Jennifer Vanasco edited this story.
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