The National Mall’s Reflecting Pool has been drained and painted black. The artist, an installation activist named Maya Lin Descendant, claims it is a protest against the Trump administration’s environmental policies. But to the waitress serving coffee in a diner off Independence Avenue, it is a slap in the face.
“I’ve saved for two years to bring my kids to see the Lincoln Memorial. They wanted to see their faces in the water. Now it’s a black hole. Doesn’t seem like art to me. Seems like a waste,” she said, her tip jar empty on a slow Tuesday.
The project, titled “Anthropocene Mirror”, cost $1.2 million in taxpayer funds and private grants. It is a pond of blackened water, sealed with a non-toxic dye, to reflect the “void of inaction on climate change”. But in a city where the minimum wage is $16.50 an hour and rent for a one-bedroom flat averages $2,800 a month, the gesture feels obscene.
The National Park Service, which manages the pool, defended the project. “Art has always challenged us. This installation forces us to look at our own reflection and ask what we are leaving behind for future generations,” a spokesperson said. But the question on the lips of many is: how much did the paint cost, and who paid for it?
The artist refused to comment on the budget, but documents show the grant came from a foundation linked to a tech billionaire who recently laid off 12% of his workforce. The workers are not amused.
“They’re painting water black while people can’t afford to turn on their heaters,” said a Metro driver, sipping coffee from a thermos. “It’s a metaphor for something, I’m sure. But not one I need explained. I see it every day on the faces of my passengers.”
The installation is set to remain for six months. In that time, the cherry blossoms will bloom, the tourists will come, and the selfies will be taken. But the black pool will stand as a monument to a disconnect: between the art world and the real world, between the haves and the have-nots. And between a government that can fund a $1.2 million statement but cannot fix the potholes on the roads leading to the mall.
The irony is not lost on the union electrician who rewired the pool’s pumps. “It’s beautiful in its way. But so is a full belly. And you don’t need an art grant to appreciate that.”
