Just when you thought they were gone, climate activists are back, this time targeting a sculpture by Edgar Degas at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
It happened around 11 a.m. this morning, April 27, when two activists in black suits smeared the Plexiglas case and base of Degas’s wax sculpture”Fourteen year old dancer(1878-1881) with blood red and petrol black paint.
The two activists – Joanna Smith from Brooklyn, New York, and Tim Martin from Raleigh, North Carolina – belong to the climate group Declare the emergency.
“We need our leaders to take serious action, to tell us the truth about what’s going on with the climate,” Smith said, raising his hands covered in fake blood.
Martin, who scribbled a black heart shape on the base of the sculpture, called on the US government to do its job of “ensuring the health and safety of our children”.
A video posted on Twitter speak Washington Post shows police handcuffing the two activists.
Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art, has published a video response on Twittersaying the sculpture has been removed from view for damage assessment.
“We unequivocally denounce this behavior and will continue to share information as it becomes available,” she said, looking visibly agitated.
