When: One night exhibit Saturday January 4th 5-8pm at bG Gallery Lady Liberty is an iconic image. She is portrayed in art, is a metaphor, a political tool, a commercial vehicle and even satirized to deliver a multitude of messages. This exhibition, by the octogenarian Santa Monica artist Sara Taft, at bg Gallery, Bergamot which opens on Saturday Janurary 4th, 2019, explores the little- known relationship between Lady Liberty and the black soldiers who fought in the Civil War, Lady Liberty’s ancient roots and her legacy for today. “Liberty is Universal. I am dedicating my work to all of those who have suffered under dictatorships, and have been deprived of their liberty or lost their lives from tyranny: to the Blacks, to the Indians, Holocaust survivors, to the victims of the massacre in China’s Tiananmen Square, and to the current victims in Venezuela – the list is endless”. -Sara Taft Lady Liberty: Unshackled should be thought of as more of an installation, a fable told in photographs, paintings, poetry, and interventions, referring to her ancient roots and relevance today. Your reaction to Lady Liberty is a barometer of the time. “How do you betray Liberty? Do you hide in comfort? Are you afraid to risk, doing something new that you have dreamed of since you were a child? What excuses do you make to not take advantage of what has been given, and then judge others who are fulfilling their dreams? Do you want Liberty on your own terms? We need to ask ourselves some deep questions. It is time! I want to bring Lady Liberty out of the Harbour of New York, and infuse her into our own embodied lives. Thomas Paine uttered some hopeful words long ago, “We have it in our power to start the world all over again.” We can! It starts in our hearts and minds.” –Sara Taft, 2020