Client: Dr. George Rivera

Overview

We live in a divisive society characterized by conflict and hate toward cultural, race/ethnic, and religious others. In an effort to bring social consciousness to the social erosion of HATE, this project was designed as a BILLBOARD expressing STOP HATE during Black History Month in February, 2021.

Political ideologies on the Right and LEFT are dividing our country and threatening Democracy. Racism has dominated much of U.S. history and is still prevalent to this day. Homophobia and violence toward the GLBTQ communities dominates daily news. Antisemitism and Islamophobia have dominated daily interactions since the onset of the Israeli/Palestinian War in Gaza. HATE is evident in almost every aspect of American society dividing families and friends.

This billboard project was placed on a major thoroughfare leading into downtown Denver from I-25. It contains a triptych with three panels in red, white, and blue to symbolize the colors of the American flag. In each part, a black dove is present to symbolize a tarnished white dove with text STOP HATE below this symbol.

Goals

The purpose of this project is to communicate the rising hate prevalent in society and to help heal ourselves by reminding us that HATE is not a family value appropriate in a democracy. The billboard message is directed at two audiences: (1) those who already aware and need to be reminded that social awareness in needed to combat and reduce this social evil, and (2) those who still have hate attitudes in hopes that they might examine their conscience by being reminded that they should STOP HATE in order to have more meaningful lives. Only by recognizing what is inside of us that diminishes humanity can we begin to heal ourselves from dominant prejudices.

Process

This project was funded by a $5000 award from the OUTREACH Council at University of Colorado at Boulder. The purpose of this billboard project is to help heal society from the hatred that has arisen since BLACK LIVES MATTER and 9/11, including the recent political atmosphere and the Israeli/Gaza War. Collaboration on this project involved consultation with members of the ARTNAUTS Collective (www.artnauts.org), which focuses on social issues in countries, including the United States, where contention and conflict exists in their recent past or present history. All parties advised that HATE was the dominant zeigeist in our society and around the world. Consequently, this billboard public art project resulted by consensus of all parties.

Additional Information

National press, including CBS News and ABC News, covered the impact of this billboard project. Local press coverage included interviews about the project with photographs by four local television stations: KMGH-TV, KRDO-TV, KUSA-TV, and KCNC-TV. Several newspapers published articles including CU Boulder Today, Denver Gazette, Arts & Sciences Magazine at the University of Colorado, and WestWord. In brief, the news coverage was extensive, especially relevant during BLACK HISTORY MONTH.