Donald Trump’s military parade in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army threatens several street art pieces by stikman (stylized lowercase) currently stuck to the asphalt along Constitution Avenue. Tanks that will run over D.C. streets could damage surfaces and make costly repaving necessary. Potential cost estimates from damages are around $16 million and impact 5 pieces by the anonymous street artist.
I reached the Philadelphia-based street artist through Evan Slepian at WP Gallery and received the following statement from stikman:
“I have studied the latest maps of the parade route, and I think that there are only about 5 tarmac figures on that route. The little guys are tough, but I don’t think they can stand up to the abuse of a tank tread. Fortunately, there are a number of figures that are not in the danger zone so hopefully, people will still get to enjoy seeing them as they walk the streets of D.C”.
The Washington Post’s John Kelly interviewed stikman by email in 2020. At that time, the artist claimed to have installed 14,000 figures on the streets of U.S. cities from coast to coast. The first stikman figure appeared in New York’s East Village in 1992 .
I first wrote about stikman’s presence in D.C. on my blog in 2013. You can find many around Washington, D.C., and I’ve noticed several new ones within the past year or so.
