A rendering of what R-Evolution would look like on the National Mall. (Courtesy of Catharsis)

The National Park Service won’t allow a 45-foot statue of a nude woman to stand near the Washington Monument, denying that part of the permit to organizers of an annual art event on the National Mall.

The sculpture, R-Evolution, was slated to be the centerpiece of Catharsis on the Mall, a Burning Man-style event that brings large-scale artworks, a burning ceremony, and dance parties to America’s front yard over the course of three days.

“Placement of the R-Evolution structure of the height proposed … is likely to have an adverse effect on the aesthetics, including the cultural identity, of the area,” wrote Rick Obernesser, NPS’ acting regional director in a letter outlining the agency’s opposition, which also included concern about damage to the turf and the size of cranes to place the work.

NPS is allowing other elements of the event to proceed, including a 32-foot inflatable igloo, a mobile dragon stage, two geodesic domes, the burning of a 5-foot wheel, and a liberty pole.

But R-Evolution was supposed to be the visual focal point of an event with the theme “nurturing the heart,” a message of de-objectifying and ending violence against women. The sculpture was the third in a series of three works that artist Marco Cochrane debuted at Burning Man in different years.

“All the stories [about R-Evoution coming to the Mall] were really fair, and people were talking about this issue and then the #metoo thing, with that happening and the sculpture coming, it all seemed like it fit together,” says Julia Whitelaw, Cochrane’s creative partner. “It’s a good time for this art, this sculpture, this message.”

Catharsis organizers announced the project at the end of September as they worked to raise $90,000 to bring the sculpture out from California. They met the financial goal and then some, via a combination of an online fundraising campaign and several direct donations.

Robert “Roman” Haferd, co-founder and board member of Catharsis on the Mall, says that they wouldn’t have started asking for donations if they weren’t led to believe that the National Park Service would grant permission.

In early September, the group received a letter that denied a permit to burn a temple with a 12 foot by 12 foot base, but granted a variance for the R-Evolution sculpture to exceed the height limit by about 2 feet. At that point, they began efforts in earnest to bring the sculpture to D.C., and Cochrane and his team took the sculpture out of storage and began a month-long process of getting it ready.

“We didn’t launch [the campaign] on a whim. [NPS] reviewed everything about this,” Haferd says. “This is beyond a bait and switch.”

“That variance letter was upon review of our whole plan,” Haferd says. “We had to submit a detailed package of engineering drawings, a lengthy, lengthy submission to get that variance. It’s not like they just said the height won’t be a big deal and didn’t know what we were doing.”

In Obernesser’s letter, he writes that the granting of the variance was an “error.”

“The National Park Service found that some proposed structures would be inconsistent with established resource protection guidelines and the public’s use and enjoyment of the National Mall,” said NPS spokesman Mike Litterst in a statement. As to why the variance was revoked, he said that “a number of new facts and circumstances have come to the attention of the National Park Service that resulted in reconsideration of the initial approval.” It remains unclear who or how the error in granting it in the first place was made.

NPS said the crane they planned to use could damage the landscape, but the Catharsis organizers said it was the first they heard of those complaints. They suspect that the media attention around the launch of the fundraising campaign resulted in pressure from above to deny the permit.

“It is an extension of the Trump administration’s ongoing pursuit of silencing women,” says organizer Natalie White, citing the recent rollback of Obama-era policy on campus sexual assault investigations. “The second class treatment of women is unacceptable. The number of women raped is unacceptable. And denying us a permit to speak out about these injustices is unacceptable.”

Catharsis organizers had worked with NPS officials to find a spot on hard ground to locate the statue, settling on a spot near the Washington Monument. They also proposed an alternative location further away from the memorial, but on grass, and a third spot, on hard stop further up on the Mall. NPS found them all unacceptable out of concerns for sight lines and condition of the turf, which has been restored in recent years.

“The proposed structure introduces a visual element that would diminish the integrity of the property’s significant historic features by altering the setting and historic character of the landscape,” Obernesser wrote.

Adam Eidinger, a lead organizer and co-founder, says that amounts to a value judgment and that organizers are working to challenge the decision in court.

‘They gave a whole list of reasons that are legitimately in the regulations, black and white things that we have to address, does free speech trump that or not,” he says. “But this stuff about the content, by talking about ‘this does not fit the values of the National Mall’ that’s like the American Taliban.”

As organizers consider their legal options, Cochrane and Whitelaw have had to cancel a series of contracts. The trucks were supposed to come tomorrow to begin the nearly week-long journey to bring R-Evolution across the country.

“From our perspective, what we knew was that we got a variance based on the sculpture height. Knowing that we needed to, of course, fulfill your standard permit conditions after that, we were confident that we’d be able to do those things because we’ve done them before,” Whitelaw says. Instead, “we’re scrambling to unwind everything right now.”

Pending a possible lawsuit that could theoretically result in a reversal of the decision, Catharsis organizers have not yet returned the more than $65,000 raised online, but they plan to do so if they are unsuccessful in bringing the sculpture to D.C.

In the meantime, they’re still working to get R-Evolution to the event in one form or another.

Eidinger says they have gotten in touch with scaffolding experts to build a structure just shy of the height limit that can sit on a material that allows for grass to breathe, mitigating those aspects of NPS’ concerns. The front and back of R-Evolution would be printed on either side, just very slightly shrunk from her original size.

“We thought if the sculpture isn’t going to be there,” Whitelaw says, “The message is still important.”

This post has been update with additional comment from the National Park Service, and the third alternative location proposed by Catharsis organizers.

Previously:
The Burning Man Of D.C. Is Set To Return With A 45-Foot Sculpture Of A Nude Woman On The Mall
Organizers Of Planned Burn Ceremony On Mall Sue NPS Over Fire Policy
A Ceremonial Temple Burning Will Once Again Take Place On The Mall
Photos: From The Flames, ‘Catharsis’ On The National Mall
For 48-Hours, D.C.’s ‘Activist Creative Community’ Will Do Yoga, Cathartic Dance, And Burn A Temple On The Mall
Activists Plan To Burn A Huge Temple On The Mall To ‘Heal From The Drug War’