The exhibition at the ACLU-NCA Civil Rights Luncheon will include HOMEwRAP's newest monumental paintings, HELP and Arrest Me!
HELP
2008
acrylic on Tyvek
120" x 108"
Arrest Me!
2009
acrylic on Tyvek
119" x 108"
Elkins created HELP and Arrest Me! in response to the search and seizure by the District government, where over a dozen armed police and inspectors raided her home when her children were sick in their beds with the flu. Elkins's young daughter, who had a high fever, cowered under blankets while police and inspectors spent a half hour searching her room. When her son went to the kitchen for breakfast, the search party ordered him from the room. He said, "You mean I can't be in my own kitchen?" To their vehement negative response, he threw up his arms and shouted, "Arrest me!"
A federal judge found the District government and four city officials liable for violation of Elkins's fourth amendment rights in December 2007.
