Black History Month artwork torn down at Orange Coast College; investigation launched
Orange Coast College is investigating after Black History Month student artwork was torn down in the campus Art Center on Tuesday.
The art project includes 18 names of people killed by police listed on nine black vinyl banners with the words “Promise that you will sing about me” at the top, referring to a Kendrick Lamar track. A multicolored flag signifying the LGBT community adorns the bottom, along with “#SayTheirName” and “BlackLivesMatter.”
The incident was reported at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday by a professor who found that the banners had been torn down and shoved under a bench inside the Art Center, which houses the Costa Mesa college’s visual arts departments.
The posters were salvaged and are back on display in a glass case in the Art Center.
The school’s Campus Safety Department is “still in search mode to see who did this and what evidence we have that we can piece together,” OCC spokesman Juan Gutierrez said Thursday. “We’re hoping to get answers and relay some information to everyone.”
Paxton Leland, an OCC professor who helped install the exhibit, was notified of the incident and contacted student Karina Mendoza, who designed the banners.
Mendoza’s project was among many art pieces submitted by students and community members to commemorate Black History Month. Mendoza collaborated on the exhibit with other students and OCC’s Student Equity Program, which says it seeks to guarantee “fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all students ... regardless of background.”
“It’s really upsetting and it bothers me that people can’t be respectful,” Mendoza said. “Obviously my artwork still needs to be up.”
Leland said he didn’t think Mendoza’s art was “that provocative,” compared with other political works on display at the Art Center, such as one that illustrates an African American man choking the Statue of Liberty.
Mendoza, a student ambassador for the Student Equity Program, said she believes the incident was a byproduct of tensions that have been high on campus lately.
She referred to an incident in which a student video-recorded a faculty member making controversial comments in class about President Trump, including calling his election victory “an act of terrorism.” The video garnered national media attention and led to demonstrations at OCC for and against the instructor.
Twitter: @VegaPriscella
