SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A mural set to be unveiled soon in Sacramento’s Little Saigon neighborhood is drawing controversy online.
Wide Open Walls intended the 500-foot public art installation on Stockton Boulevard to bring the Year of the Dragon to life in a celebration of both Lunar New Year and the Vietnamese celebration of Tet, which welcomes the arrival of spring and marks the start of the new year according to the lunar calendar.
The mural caught the eyes of people passing by, including Hau Phan, who is Vietnamese.
"It's just amazing and it's very pretty," Phan said. "It's really interesting and well, Chinese New Year is coming up so it fits the theme."
But some on social media are saying there was a lack representation in the artist selection process.
"This mural that's being put up is in the heart of Little Saigon and just quite frankly, there should have been people tapped in in these communities to represent our stories and cultures," said Filipinx artist Jamie P. Cardenas. "They put up what we would consider to be a Kalinga warrior, but there's nothing about the piece that is actually Kalinga. The Kalinga people, their markings, their beadwork, how they present in the world are all sacred."
"These artists appear to have no ties culturally, ethnically to the communities that they are depicting in their murals," said Megan Sapigao, who is the program director for The Laban Group, a community-led project aimed at raising awareness about anti-Asian hate. "Stories should not be told about us, without us."
In a comment on an Instagram post about the mural, Wide Open Walls said, in part, “For this project, we issued a call for participants that included API artists, underscoring our dedication to diversity and inclusivity.”
They added that artists were chosen based on the project requirements and their availability, among other factors.
Wide Open Walls also said in the comment, “we actively sought guidance from members of the API community to ensure that our selection process was enriched by diverse perspectives and cultural insights.”
For more Sacramento coverage, stream ABC10+ on your TV for free:
► Roku - click here
► Amazon Fire - click here
► Apple TV - click here
Some question the statement.
"Clearly, as we've seen in the community responses on their social media, there were a lot of artists, AAPI artists, that were not aware of a callout," said Sapigao. "I think that that is not an excuse. If you put a callout and you're not getting a response or you can't find culturally-informed artists to do this work, then you try harder."
Wide Open Walls said in the Instagram comment they plan to host a community forum to allow for collaboration with the neighborhood and cultural representatives. When that will happen is unclear.
ABC10 brought questions about the artist selection process and community concerns to Wide Open Walls, but they did not respond to our request for comment.
WATCH MORE ON ABC10 | 'Light The Beam': 5 artists work together for new Kings mural
