Onlookers Gawk As Climate Change Protesters Smear Paint on Case Around Degas Sculpture

Two climate change protesters were arrested Thursday after they smeared black and red paint on the glass case surrounding a sculpture by French artist Edgar Degas.

People can be heard in the background exclaiming, “Oh my God!” and, “Oh, damn!”

Degas’ Tiny Dancer Aged Fourteen, molded in colored wax, is housed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post tweeted the video showing a man and woman smearing the paint, then sitting in front of the pedestal and demanding that President Biden declare a climate emergency.

“This art is beautiful and we’re destroying it with climate change,” the woman said. “We need our leaders to take serious action, to tell us the truth about what’s happening with the climate.”

The male protester said he has a job in health and safety, “But I can’t do my job unless I have a government that does their job for the health and safety of our children.”

The sculpture was the only one Degas ever displayed publicly, which was at the 1881 impressionist exhibition in Paris, according to the National Gallery. Degas is known primarily for his impressionistic paintings of female ballet dancers. At the time of the exhibition, Tiny Dancer was declared “repulsive,” “vicious,” and “a threat to society,” according to the gallery.

Security guards quickly surrounded the couple with arms outstretched, telling onlookers to, “Back up!”

The Post reported that the protesters — identified as 53-year-old Joanna Smith, from Brooklyn, NY; and 54-year-old Tim Martin, of Raleigh, N.C. — represented the organization, Declare Emergency, which says it promotes “Resolute, non-violent climate action.” The pair did not appear to resist as they were taken into custody.