How orange became the color for gun safety reform
Plus: It’s true, New York City is the art capital of the U.S.
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at…
How orange became the color for gun safety reform
This is what it looks like to fry an American flag
It’s true, New York City is the art capital of the U.S.
Why orange became the color for gun safety reform
To mark the eighth annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day last Friday, gun safety groups encouraged supporters to wear orange, a color that’s become a symbol because of its association with safety.
National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange were started by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old who was shot and killed in Chicago in 2013. First held on what would have been her 18th birthday in June 2015, they chose orange because the color is worn by hunters so they can be visible while hunting and not confused for game.
“The orange lets everyone know I’m here, I’m here, I’m standing out,” Pendleton’s father Nate said in a video from the gun safety reform group Everytown that year. Pendleton’s friends passed out orange shirts and buttons around Chicago, and the color is now used as a symbol nationally.
More than 370 events were held for National Gun Violence Awareness Day this year, according to Everytown, and more than 300 landmarks, buildings, and billboards were lit up orange, including the White House, Empire State Building, and the Washington National Cathedral.
But perhaps the biggest win for Wear Orange 2022 was how widely it was adopted by professional athletes. More than 90 teams participated this year, including the entire WNBA, both teams in the NBA Finals, the U.S. men’s national soccer team during its game against Uruguay on Sunday, and six teams out of Texas — the Houston Texans, Houston Dash, Dallas Wings, Houston Dynamo, San Antonio Spurs, and Dallas Mavericks.
The more than 90 participating teams represent about half of the roughly 180 professional baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer teams, according to Reuters. That’s way up from last year, when just 29 teams participated.
The shirts worn by members of the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors for Game 2 of the NBA Finals read “End Gun Violence” on the front, with a call to learn more on the back with social media handles for groups including @everytown, @giffordscourage, and @marchforourlives.
“We feel very strongly as a league that it's time for people to take notice and to take part in what should be a nationwide effort to limit the gun violence that's out there," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said during a pregame interview Sunday. “There are things we can do that would not violate people's Second Amendment rights, but would save lives. The idea behind wearing the shirts for both teams is to make people aware that they can contribute to different gun safety, gun violence prevention groups.”
Other teams that participated in Wear Orange this year include the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Union, Miami Marlins, Miami Dolphins, Phoenix Mercury, Washington Mystics, Washington Nationals, Washington Commanders, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Sky, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota United, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland A’s, Portland Thorns, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, and Connecticut Sun, according to Everytown.
This is what it looks like to fry an American flag
If you want to own an American flag flown over the U.S. Capitol, you can make a request for one through your U.S. House or Senate member’s office, and what you do with it is up to you.
Since 2020, artist Kiyan Williams has been battering, seasoning, and frying nylon flags flown over the Capitol for their work “How Do You Properly Fry an American Flag,” now on display for their first solo exhibition, Un/earthing, at Lyles & King in New York City through June 25.
The flags were seasoned with paprika, salt, and pepper, and fried in safflower oil. Over Memorial Day weekend, Williams invited visitors to bring their own regional-specific seasonings to make a flag with, and called it a flag fry.
My initial interpretation of the work was as a tongue-in-cheek statement on kitschy American patriotism. These colors don’t run, but brother, have you tried them deep fried? It’s even more ‘Murica.
Williams’ message behind the flags, however, is much more pointed; to them, it’s about murder justified in the name of a flag.
“Murdering people in the United States, murdering so many people outside the United States is all justified for the American flag, for money, for resources, for stolen resources at that,” says a voiceover in a video showing the flags getting fried. “For me that’s what it means. Murder.”
“How Do You Properly Fry an American Flag” isn’t the only work at Williams’ exhibition. The flags are displayed alongside vaguely human-like sculptures made from earth and steel meant by Williams as an exploration between Blackness and land, and inspired by Lake Drummond, Virginia, a swamp that was home to communities of formerly enslaved people beginning was early as the 1600s, per Lyles & King.
Fun fact: every year, more than 100,000 requests for flags flown at the U.S. Capitol are filled, and if you’re wondering how they do it, there are special flag poles that fly smaller flags daily year-round, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, according to the Architect of the Capitol.
It’s true, New York City is the art capital of the U.S.
New York City is hands down the biggest American city in art. A new study found 36% of all art exhibitions in the U.S. held between 2017 and 2021 were held in New York, more than any other U.S. city.
That’s according to a new report on the role of cities in the U.S. art ecosystem from UBS. The report found New York at the top of the list, followed by Los Angeles with 8%; San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago with 4%; Dallas, Houston, and Philadelphia with 2%; and Boston with 1%. All remaining cities made up 39%.
New York City also leads in share of commercial galleries (37%) and non-profit institutions (16%). Where New York sometimes falls short of other U.S. cities, though, is representation.
Chicago beats out New York when it comes to having a higher share of female artists in commercial galleries, and Chicago and Los Angeles are both ahead of New York for showing emerging artists, or lower-profile artists with a limited number of exhibitions.
While New York benefits from being a hub for creatives, its status as America’s No. 1 art city has a lot to do with its high concentration of wealth.
“Apart from hosting the biggest international sales, it is also a center of high net worth wealth and has the largest population of millionaires and billionaires globally, which help to support a range of commercial galleries in the city,” economist Dr. Clare McAndrew wrote in the report.
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