vintage Running Fence poster, tacked to the side of a barn in Bloomfield, CA

What a rare treat when a work of art actually affects the course of everyday life for everyday people. Dozens gathered yesterday in Bloomfield, West Sonoma County to greet the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude and to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of Running Fence, which the duo spent four years planning and six months building for a two week installation in West Marin and Sonoma Counties in September of 1976.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude warmly greet ranchers and others who helped

The gathering included many of the 59 ranchers who allowed the 25 mile long fence to run over their land, as well as locals who helped the artists construct and install the project. The feeling among the people was genuinely familial and it was truly touching to see Christo and Jeanne-Claude greeted more like old friends at a family reunion than as international art stars. Everyone present had a story to share about the epic project, recalled as though it had happened yesterday. I spoke with one man who had been a Team Leader on the Meacham Hill stretch of Running Fence, who gleefully recounted the challenges of securing the fabric clips when the winds picked up.

jacket sewn by Mrs. Les Bruhm in 1976 of fabric from Running Fence

I also spoke with the daughter of Mr and Mrs Les Bruhm, ranchers who were first to welcome the artists to the community, and whose cousin created a lovely scrapbook of the Running Fence project, proudly on display at the celebration. The Running Fence project clearly succeeded in calling people beyond their daily charge, inviting them to be a part of a unique historic event, whose legacy now resides in their collective memory. However ephemeral, a thing will last if its value translates across generations. If you’d like to either contribute to, or follow my ongoing interest in documenting what remains of Running Fence, please follow the thread by clicking here.

cover of the Running Fence scrapbook, by  M.J. Butner, October, 1976

Tagged: christo and jeanne claude, contemporary art, craft philosophy, deep craft, running fence, scott Constable

A section of the fabric from Christo’s ‘Running Fence’ (1976) is used as a backdrop for the Salami Toss at the Occidental Fire Department’s annual summer barbecue.

When Christo and Jeanne-Claude realized their seminal Running Fence project in West Sonoma County in the mid-1970’s, they traded materials used to construct the 24 mile long fence with ranchers in exchange for use of the land. Learning more about the project from first-hand knowledge when our family moved to the area about three years ago, I thought it would be interesting to investigate what remains of the original materials and how they have been put to use by ranchers and others over the past 30 years.

Ene and I wrote a proposal for a project we called Running Fence Revisited (click to see original proposal), for which we are still seeking funding to produce a publication. Meanwhile, I’ve begun to research and document the project on these pages and invite anyone interested in helping to participate by leaving a comment below. The first artifact we’ve discovered related to Christo’s original Running Fence is a section of the fabric still used by the Occidental Fire Department as a backdrop for the Salami Toss concession at their annual summer barbecue, which we attended yesterday.

If you have any information about what remains of Running Fence, would like to learn more about Running Fence Revisited or help us to conduct research, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

Tagged: christo and jeanne claude, conceptual art, deep craft, land art, occidental, running fence, scott Constable, west sonoma county, wowhaus