Christo's california dreaming

Bruhn Lester never imagined that the permission he gave to Christo and Jeanne-Claude back in 1973 would become this important. It all started with a snow fence thatChristo and Jeanne-Claude saw in 1972.They imagined they could make an endless fence that would extend through ranches and highways before entering the sea but such an ambitiousproject would require much land.

That's how they decided to visit Valley Ford, where they asked ranchers if they could provide part of their land to build a temporaryartwork. Unfortunately, everyone rejected their offer, after all art wasn’t something common there, everything was going terrible until they knocked at the door of Bruhn, whobelieved the idea would improve tourism and create jobs, so he gladly accepted.
They tried to convince Bruhn’s neighbors with a good proposal and finally they agreed.However, some of the residents didn’t like the idea that much, so they decided to create "The Committe" (a group to stop the construction of the fence).

After an arduousprocess in the Superior Court of California, the project was approved and the construction began in April 1976.
Sadly, Lester died in 1991, but he was able to see "TheRunning Fence." A magnificent white fence that dazzled all who saw it, a fence that didn’t meant separation, it meant union and peace.

These days the only thing left toremember it is an American flag on one of the steel poles and below it lie Christo's boots (the same ones that he used to walk the route of the fence over and over again).Unfortunately, Jeanne-Claude died this past November at age 74; but Mary Ann (Lester's daughter) still remembers with great joy the magnificence of "The Running Fence."