The Grand Gallery is proud to present the work of Howard Harawitz.
March 3rd – 29th
Artist Reception – March 7th – 1pm – 5pm
Artist Talk – March 12th – 7-9pm
560 2nd Street, Jack London Square, Oakland, CA
On May 20, 1969, Gov. Ronald Reagan ordered helicopters to drop tear gas on student protesters at UC Berkeley. The wind carried the gas into the Berkeley hills, sending children to the hospital and drawing their parents into the streets in response. Howard Harawitz, then a graduate student of history, snapped a surreal and jarring photo of a shirtless child, his face obscured by a gas mask, holding a wilted daisy before the American flag at the resulting demonstration, just one of hundreds of iconic images in his portfolio of protests in the 1960s.
The photographs in the exhibit reveal the conditions in the Bay Area that birthed many of the protests of this time. From fair housing to farm workers’ rights with the Free Speech Movement at the core, Harawitz shines a light on present-day parallels as a reminder to us all:
People have the power.