Prison Sentenced for Defacing a Well-Known Work of Art by a Climate Activist

Prison Sentenced for Defacing a Well-Known Work of Art by a Climate Activist

A climate activist who vandalized a display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC last year will be imprisoned for sixty days.

According to a news release from the Justice Department, Joanna Smith, 54, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced on Friday.

On April 27, Edgar Degas’s 142-year-old wax figure, “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,” was covered with red and black paint by Smith and another protestor.
According to NPR, Timothy Martin of North Carolina, who was detained with Smith, is expected to go on trial on August 26.

In December, Smith entered a guilty plea to one count of endangering an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art.

Smith was placed on a 24-month supervised release plan by the U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, along with a 150-hour community service requirement, of which ten hours had to be dedicated to graffiti removal.

Smith will also be prohibited from accessing the District of Columbia and any of its museums and monuments for two years, in addition to having to pay back the estimated $4,000 cost of cleaning the display.

According to the DOJ press release, water bottles contained paint that was utilized in the damage. Smith and her ally “had conducted research on the piece and specifically targeted it,” according to the prosecution.

Smith spoke on climate change at the same time as the vandalism.

Today, protesters against climate change splattered paint on the pedestal and glass case of Edgar Degas’s well-known sculpture “Little Dancer of Fourteen Years” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
She and her accomplice took pictures with the paint still on their hands after the mischief was completed, according to ABC News.

According to NPR, the sculpture is “one of the most vulnerable and fragile works in our entire collection,” according to Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art.

“I cannot overemphasize how the violent treatment of her protective barrier, repeated slamming, and vibrations, have forever jeopardized her stability,” she continued.

“With increased frequency, institutions — overwhelmingly non-profit museums for the public benefit — have suffered collateral damage at the hands of agendas that have nothing to do with museums or the art attacked,” Feldman stated.
“To prevent future incidents that continue to threaten our cultural heritage and historical memory, it is important to take seriously the real damage that these acts of vandalism pose,” the speaker stated.

Michael Taube argued in a February National Post post that something needs to be done as more and more museums are being vandalized in the name of climate protest.

According to Taube, “these activists exhibit a total lack of respect for authority, tradition, and public institutions.” This kind of conduct has no place in honorable, law-abiding communities. As a result, harsher penalties and longer prison terms are required to deter future copycat attacks on artistic creations.”

He said, “Western democracies have long enough borne the self-serving deeds and vile behavior of far-left environmentalists. To preserve magnificent works of art for future generations, let’s put a stop to art vandalism.”

Vandalism, according to Taube, has demonstrated the necessity of dealing harshly with vandals.

“Governments must also impose harsher sanctions for these offenses. Without a doubt, this is more than just some harmless public mischief. Even though they are securely behind protective glass, they are attempts to degrade magnificent works of art,” the author stated.

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Climate Activist Who Defaced Famous Work of Art Sentenced to Prison (msn.com)

“Governments must also impose harsher sanctions for these offenses. Without a doubt, this is more than just some harmless public mischief. Even though they are securely behind protective glass, they are attempts to degrade magnificent works of art,” the author stated.

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