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An artist's message to her community: 'We’ve got each other'

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by Julio Sandoval, Kyle Cooke • Published on
Artist Alejandra Abad
Rocky Mountain PBS

BOULDER, Colo. — If you have walked through the Pearl Street Mall recently, there is a good chance you’ve come across the work of artist Alejandra Abad.

Her signature flags hung from string lights above the popular thoroughfare, sending messages of positivity and strength in both English and Spanish to her community.

“I wish that in the future, we as a society practice understanding & patience when interacting with each other,” one sign read.

“Basta de pobreza,” another said, translating to “enough of poverty” in English.

“I would hope that my art is a call to that humanity, to that message of love and hope and connection,” Abad explained.

After a gunman killed 10 people at the Table Mesa King Soopers on March 22, Abad created a new flag. This one said “Boulder Strong.”

Colorado Voices
An artist's message to her community: Boulder Strong
4:06
Published:

After the King Soopers shooting in Boulder, the community is turning to art for strength.

“We are together. We are strong,” said Abad, who was born in Caracas, Venezuela. “We’ve got this. We’ve got each other. Because no matter who tries to bring us down, we have each other to remind us of our connection — our human connection — and our strength.”

Abad decided that she would display her Boulder Strong flag at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Open Wall” exhibition. Open Wall allows artists of all levels to display and sell their work at BMoCA.

Usually, the art at Open Wall is sold via silent auction. But not this year.

“Every year, hundreds of artists come and display their work, and we felt that this program is really supposed to be an uplifting event for the community,” said Kiah Butcher, BMoCA’s community engagement and media manager. “And so the natural progression was, ‘How can we give back? How can we do more? How can we help those who desperately need the help right now?’”

The museum gave the artists an option: they could keep 50% of the proceeds from their work, or choose to donate all of the proceeds to the Boulder County Crisis Fund.

Butcher said there was a “huge outpouring” of both art and support from the Boulder community. Over 400 pieces of art came in for Open Wall.

Read more about Abad and her work here.

Find ways to donate and help the Boulder community here.

Boulder Strong | More Stories

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