HISTORY
The People’s Flag Show was a November 1970 exhibition at Judson Memorial Church in New York City by Faith Ringgold, Jean Toche and Jon Hendricks, known as the Judson Three. The exhibition was raided by the police and the artists arrested on a charge of flag desecration. They were convicted and fined $100 each, but this was later overturned with support from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The organizers of the exhibition wanted to test the boundaries of “repressive laws governing so-called flag desecration.” This intent was posted on a flyer calling for artist participation for the week-long event. While the exhibition was not explicitly an antiwar event, it grew out of the antiwar movement, with many of the works included in the exhibition referencing and in some cases expressing disapproval of the Vietnam War.
NOVEMBER 11, 2025 (Veterans Day)
On November 11, at the opening reception of the 55th annual People’s Flag Show, Nick Fracaro performed a durational butoh piece on the street/sidewalk near the entrance of Judson Memorial Church.
In the middle of Nick’s performance, Ralph Lewis of Peculiar Works Project came outside to tell us of a controversy inside that hearkened back to the initial show in 1970.
NOVEMBER 13, 2025
Nick performs “State of the Union” as part of the show’s official evening of performances.
I was stationed in Bayreuth, Germany in 1972 when a knock on my barrack room door awakened me from a vivid dream. In the dream, my grandmother, Noni, was waving to me from across the ocean to come to her. It proved to be something more than just a dream. Called into the Lieutenant’s office that morning, I received orders to return stateside. My father was in the hospital after a car accident.
When I reached his bedside, he was on a ventilator and couldn’t speak. He reached over and picked up a notepad and pencil. I can’t remember what he wrote there. It was probably something simple, maybe something he had never said out loud to me. I love you.
He died about month later.
He never talked to anyone about his two-year combat experience as a medic in Germany in WWII, but it’s written in his face in the before/after photos here.
He had been awarded the Bronze Star for an act of heroism, so at the gravesite there was an honor guard of uniformed veterans. I, too, was in uniform. After Taps and a three-volley rifle salute, the flag was ceremoniously folded. I didn’t know the veteran who presented the flag to me, but there were tears in his eyes as he saluted me. By rote, I returned the salute.
This performance was dedicated to my father, Stephen Albert Fracaro, 19 Dec 1924 – 26 Feb 1972
