sanda iliescu

In the early morning of September 8, 2005, as I walked towards Beta Bridge, a UVA campus bridge used as a community bulletin board, I was stunned to see racist and homophobic graffiti that had been spray painted on its parapets. They included the word “KLAN” painted in bright orange letters. Other such hate messages had appeared in various locations on campus. I was horrified and decided to create a work of public art that would begin to restore our community’s faith in justice and fairness. On the morning of September 15, I orchestrated the painting of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address by passersby. Each participant painted a single word in the 271-word address. In exchange for their participation, each contributor received a copy of Lincoln’s historic text, which begins with the words: Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

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