Artists protest police ‘harassment’ in Rittenhouse Square by simply showing up and showing their art

Artists came out in force Saturday to display their artwork outside Rittenhouse Square in a peaceful gathering to protest an incident in which police kicked three artists out of the square and seized some of their works earlier in the week.

On Saturday, about 20 artists lined the 18th Street side of the park where the three artists, NEEK, NZ One, and Ginger had been chased away on Monday.

NZ One called the Saturday action " an artists’ gathering” in response to the police action that day.

“It was an egregious display of brute power and harassment by the police,” he said.

NZ One, 30, said he destroyed all 10 of his canvases that day rather than allow the police to take them. Police took the shattered pieces with them.

And they seized 18 canvases that belonged to NEEK. He said more than 15 police officers were involved.

NZ One said he had heard some reports that city officials were saying the three artists were blocking the sidewalk, or that they didn’t have vendors’ licenses.

“I have photos and a video, and the way we were set up that day, we weren’t blocking the sidewalk,” he said, nor had they even been ordered to show licenses in the past.

The artists said they couldn’t believe such a display of what they called police harassment only one week after a police officer shot and killed Eddie Irizarry as he sat in his car in Kensington on Aug. 14.

NEEK started the morning by painting two large white banners that he spread on the sidewalk before posting them on the fence.

One banner said: “Justice for Eddie Irizzary,” and the other: “Stop Harassing Our Citizens.”

Ginger, 26, who declined to give her real name because of safety concerns, said she had only her handmade jewelry with her that day.

She said she was able to gather up her jewelry quickly as a van pulled up and started filming to record police confiscating her friends’ works.

“I was shocked,” Ginger said. She said she has been bringing her art to Rittenhouse Square for the last four years, and police had never asked them to leave before.

» READ MORE: Philly artists get kicked out of Rittenhouse Square by police, say artwork is damaged

She said the only difference between Monday and any other time artists had displayed art in the square was the fact that some artists posted works or signs critical of the proposed 76ers arena near Chinatown.

On the day of the art seizure, however, she said one of the artists was wearing a T-shirt that said “Save Chinatown, No Arena.”

The artists had also posted some artwork or signs that protested plans for a 76ers stadium near Chinatown.

It was unclear, however, whether that was related to the evictions.

Ginger said she wondered if things might have turned more violent if the three artists weren’t white.

“Us being white people, I think they went easy on us. If any of us had been people of color, I think it would have been far worse.”

There were a number of Black artists on the scene Saturday .

Yorel., 23, who is an illustrator and animator was selling T-shirts with characters from his comic books. He said he was there Saturday to support the community of artists.

“Art has always been a critical part of this city’s culture; the Avenue of the Arts is just down there.“ He called from the police taking the artists works “censorship.”

On Saturday, hundreds of people filled Rittenhouse Square, strolling across its walkways, sitting on benches, and playing or listening to music. One artist sketched inside the park.

There were also scores of licensed vendors who sold food, jewelry and produce in official vendor booths, closer to Walnut Street. The artists protesting the the police action, lined up from 18th Street and Rittenhouse, the southeast corner of the square, to just north of Locust Street. Their artwork was propped up against a fence.

Michael Zallie, 45, a Center City resident, showed his large mixed-media artwork of newspaper clippings and paint.

Wearing a T-shirt that said, “Free Speech Makes a Free People,” said that the title of one work, Beauty in a Broken World, seemed to be a metaphor for what happened to the three artists last week.

“It really hurt me to see my friend have the work that he worked so hard on, being confiscated,” Zaille said.

“Here we are creating something positive in our world, and here he is having his stuff confiscated. It seemed so contradictory.”

Shane Angelo Jones brought out his painting showing a Patco train crossing the Benjamin Franklin Bridge with the Philadelphia skyline in the background.

Jones, who lives in Kensington, said he doesn’t understand why police took the action they did..

“Everyday I see people dying, and the cops sit there and do nothing. I’ve seen police just watching while people are shooting drugs and dying and they won’t do anything about it.

He said the swift action against artists showed a problem with the city’s enforcement priorities.

“I feel like it’s wrong. Rittenhouse has always been a haven for artists.”