Read about how the County of Sacramento News spoke with our January artist LeRoid David to talk about his art piece for our 2024 anti-Asian hate awareness & education campaign!

THE SACRAMENTO BEE

Read Ari Plachta’s article covering our 2024 press conference and launch event. Our January Laban artist LeRoid David and our Program Director Megan Sapigao also share about the importance of togetherness and trust in this community centered-and-led work.

HMONG DAILY NEWS

Read Macy Yang’s article for the Hmong Daily News (our fellow grantee!) about our press conference and launch event, where several community leaders and elected officials share about the necessity of action and solidarity at every level.

ABC 10 NEWS - Elisha Machado

Read the article about the community response to Wide Open Wall’s mural in Little Saigon, and our Program Director, Megan Sapigao, discuss the lack of outreach and intention involved in the creation of the mural.

ABC 10 NEWS - Vicente Vera

Read the article discussing how the postponement of the Wide Open Walls mural in Little Saigon seemed to coincide with the ABC 10 news report highlighting the lack of inclusion of AAPI artists in the creation process. Our Program Director, Megan Sapigao, also shares insights on the dangers of out-of-touch storytelling

THE SACRAMENTO BEE

Read Emma Hall’s article on how Wide Open Wall’s social media post about the unveiling event for the Little Saigon mural drew widespread criticism for the lack of inclusion. AALN executive director, Lee Lo, and our Program Manager, Megan Sapigao, also discuss the harmful effects of excluding the depicted communities and how it both reinforces harmful stereotypes and further exploits marginalized groups.

KCRA 3 NEWS

Read Maricela De La Cruz’s article regarding the the inaccuracies and stereotypes depicted in the Wide Open Walls mural and how our February Laban artist, Shawntay Gorman, express the disappointment and hurt felt by AAPI artists in the Sacramento region at being both excluded and misrepresented due to the lack of outreach.

AsAm NEWS

Read Alexandra Nguyen’s article detailing how the critical comments from AAPI community members on the Wide Open Walls social media post prompted a wider call to action to address the larger issues of misrepresentation and exclusion in the arts. Our Program Director, Megan Sapigao also shares her thoughts on the dangers of inauthentic authorship when it comes to telling stories about our marginalized communities.

NEXT SHARK

Read Ryan General’s article detailing several of the comments left by AAPI community member’s on the painful and inaccurate depictions of AAPI communities in the Wide Open Walls social media post about the mural unveiling. Our Program Director, Megan Sapigao, also points out the lack of connection and outreach to the communities of the neighborhood and AAPI artists.

SOLVING SACRAMENTO

The Solving Sacramento Journalism collaborative disseminated an article by Hannah Ross across several online publications. Ross’ article speaks on how the harmful stereotypes and inaccuracies of the Wide Open Walls mural prompted community members to voice out their comments both online and in person at the monthly meeting of the City of Sacramento Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Commission.

March Laban artist, Franceska Gamez, February Laban artist, Shawntay Gorman, and our Program Director, Megan Sapigao, all share about the lack of responsibility, care, and accountability of Wide Open Walls approach to this project, and the necessity of community-led-and-centered art for creating change.