In 2016, DC artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer approached fellow artist Aja to "collaborate" on an application for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' (DCCAH) Public Art Building Community grant. Over 3 years later, after countless hours of negotiation and fighting for justice, Thalhammer continues to remain silent after stealing the original design, and hasn't paid or recognized the co-creator, Aja, let alone given credit for the design that won her the $50,000 grant. The mural has been painted on the Open Arms women's shelter at 57 O Street NW, Washington, D.C in 2017.

We ask for your signature so that Aja can receive payment and credit for designing the mural, so that grantor DCCAH and grantee Lisa Marie Thalhammer can be held accountable for exploiting this community of women of color, and ultimately so that we can keep fighting for the creative dignity of all artists.

To learn more about this campaign, connect with others, and to reach the artist directly, visit our webpage. Letter and demands are below:

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To Whom It May Concern at the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities,

As a supporter of public art in DC, I am appalled at your recent decision to ignore the case of Aja Adams, an artist in the DC community. You refused to thoroughly investigate the case to ensure payment and credit to the artist, Aja Adams, who designed the piece painted on the Open Arms building at 57 O Street NW by Lisa Marie Thalhammer (LMT). Instead, you allowed the grantee to use the $50,000 grant for personal gain.

I refuse to see taxpayers dollars going to the pockets of Lisa Marie Thalhammer, who stole the work of Aja Adams, an LGBTQ artist of color residing in Northeast DC. If you really stood by the “Public Art Building Community” grant name, you as the grantor would do everything in your power to ensure the artist receives full payment for the design and credit for their work on the Open Arms wall at 57 O Street NW. Additionally, I expect you as a Commission see to it that the grant is used to benefit the women of color at the shelter, as was promised in the proposal. Thus far, it is clear that the Commission has favored the lies put forth by the grantee, without listening to the community. We are writing to put an end to this pattern of exploitation of communities of color by white artists under the guise of charity and community development.

I demand that you:

1. TAKE A STANCE: DC Commission on Arts and Humanities must revise their “neutral” position on the issue, take a stance on investigating Lisa Marie Thalhammer as violating the contractual grant agreement as a grantee, and fraudulently registering the piece co-created by Aja as her own sole intellectual property. Silence is violence.
2. DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: DC Commission on Arts and Humanities must release items requested in Freedom of Information Act request made in 2018 by artist Aja, detailing the receipts and cost breakdown of the grant, all communications between the artist and the Commission, as well as documentation of programming at the Open Arms shelter. (FOIA request remains unresolved in the dc.gov FOIA portal, with “estimated delivery date” still listed as June 11, 2018)
3. PAY AND GIVE CREDIT TO THE ORIGINAL CREATOR: Lisa Marie Thalhammer and DCCAH must give credit and payment to Aja Adams, the co-creator of the original grant-winning design, which was fraudulently registered as a copyright by the LMT as a derivative work.
4. REMOVE THE MURAL: If Aja is not given payment or credit, DCCAH must commission another artist from the community to repaint the wall.
5. ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY VOICE: The Open Arms shelter Director must acknowledge the exploitation that occurred and support the removal of the mural if credit/payment are not given to the original artist, Aja. Aja or another artist of color should be commissioned to repaint the mural in collaboration with the residents of the Open Arms Shelter.
6. HOLD U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE ACCOUNTABLE: The U.S. Copyright Office must reject the application they previously granted to LMT when she illegally registered a derivative piece to which she did not own full rights as intellectual property.
7. PRESS COVERAGE OWN UP: Any press coverage that did not do their research to cover the illegal activity by LMT should include said fraudulent activity in their piece or take down their coverage.
   Specifically: The Power of Public Art: Lisa Marie Thalhammer’s Campaign of Love. In Folklife (Smithsonian) by Malgorzata Mical | October 2, 2019

I am writing to you as part of a movement, and we are fighting for justice and artistic dignity. We are appealing to you not just for this case, but so that all artists of color who create works funded by the DCCAH and any other body can receive the same space, credit, payment, opportunities, and respect as the artists who take the work.

Sincerely,

Concerned community member