Thread by @StephRWolf

(1/7) Meet Denver artist Mary Mackey. In 1990, she painted on a nearly mile-long stretch of the Berlin Wall, what became known as the East Side Gallery. “It was the first time anybody got to paint on the east side of the Berlin Wall,” Mackey said. “So that was really special.”

(2/7) On Nov. 9, 1989, after nearly 3 decades of dividing the city's East & West sections, the Berlin Wall fell. During the height of the Cold War, unauthorized crossings could result in death - at least 140 people died at the wall. #mauerfall30

(3/7) Mackey was in London that day. Riveted by what was happening, & knowing she soon had to return to Denver, she thought, “I've got to get to Berlin to see the wall before it comes down.” Then she read in an art mag about artists being recruited to paint on the wall.

(4/7) Mackey's mural is called "Tolerance." It's abt acceptance of each other... “I was over there for about six months before I ended up painting the piece, and I recognized that, between East and West Berlin, there was a lot of misunderstanding of people.”

(5/7) She was 1 of 118 artists from around the world to paint on the ESG, as was Scottish artist Margaret Hunter. She said painting on it was a sad & joyous moment. “This is the wall, what I saw on tv when I was 16, looking at people coming under tunnels & being shot.”

(6/7) Any artist submission was accepted so long as the message wasn’t about hate. It was to be a "monument to joy," said Christine MacLean, who managed ESG early on.

“How many monuments to joy are there in the world & is it not more ethical to spread joy than horror & terror?"

(7/7) There's been some threats to the gallery, i.e. erosion & graffiti, as well as commercial development. There's also been debates among the artists about the ESG's legacy and how to preserve it. Mackey hopes it lives on. More abt ESG & Mackey's story: cpr.org/2019/11/29/30-…