Richard William Evans papers
Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS
GLBT Historical Society
2023
989 Market Street, Lower Level
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 777-5455
reference@glbthistory.org
http://www.glbthistory.org/
Title: Richard William Evans papers
Dates: 1973-2023
Collection Number: 2023-56
Creator/Collector:
Evans, Richard William
Extent: 1.5 linear feet (1 manuscript box and 1 oversized box)
Online items available
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: Richard William Evans (1942 January 20-2023 April 26) was a Black, gay artist, community advocate, and participant in the
“back-to-the-land” movement in Northern California. As a member of the Stellar Arts Collective, Evans helped to create “The
Power of the Sun,” a large-scale stained glass installation that was displayed in the State of California office building
at 455 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco from 1979 until the artwork’s destruction in a protest in 1991. A proposal; promotional
materials; newspaper clippings; photographic slides, snapshots, and film positives; an oral history interview, and a digital
film document Evans's artistic work with the Stellar Arts Collective.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright to material has been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or permission
to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist.
[Identification of item]. Richard William Evans papers. Collection Number: 2023-56. GLBT Historical Society
Gift of Richard William Evans, April 2023. Addition by Marcus Villagran, July 2023.
Biography/Administrative History
Richard William Evans (1942 January 20-2023 April 26) was a Black, gay artist, community advocate, and participant in the
“back-to-the-land” movement in Northern California. As a member of the Stellar Arts Collective, Evans helped to create “The
Power of the Sun,” a large-scale stained glass installation that was displayed in the State of California office building
at 455 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco from 1979 until the artwork’s destruction in a protest in 1991.
Evans was born in Baltimore in 1942. At 18, he moved to New York City, where he lived for six years before moving to Paris
in 1966. In 1967, he left Paris for San Francisco, where he participated in the city’s countercultural and gay scenes. In
the early 1970s, Evans joined several friends in moving “back-to-the-land” in Humboldt County, California.
In the late-1970s, Evans returned to San Francisco. In 1978, Evans formed the Stellar Arts Collective with Dick Jenkins, Janice
Besser, Albert Marsh, Kim Hick, and Lou Galetti. The Collective applied to the State of California’s Art in Public Buildings
program, proposing to install a stained glass ceiling, chandelier, and windows in a State office building in San Francisco.
The Collective’s proposal was accepted, and they assembled and installed the artwork, “The Power of the Sun,” over the course
of 1979, debuting the work to the public in 1980.
In 1991, the windows were destroyed during a protest against California Governor Pete Wilson’s veto of AB101, a bill that
would have made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in employment.
In the early-1980s, Evan returned to Humboldt County with his partner Richard Beyer. Beyer and Evans lived in a house they
built together in Zenia Bluffs until Beyers death from complications related to AIDS in 1995. In the 2000s, Evans moved to
Eureka, California, where he was active with the Redwood Community Action Agency and the Westside Community Improvement Association.
Evans died in April 2023.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection documents Evans’s artistic work with the Stellar Arts Collective, including the Collective’s proposal to the
Art in Public Buildings program; informational posters; invitations and promotional materials for “The Power of the Sun”’s
opening; dozens of slides, film positives, and several snapshots documenting the artwork’s assembly and installation; as well
as Evans’s copy of R.S. Beard’s Patterns in Space (1973). Also included are a digital recording of a 2023 oral history interview
of Evans about “The Power of the Sun” by Andy Couturier; a 2023 digital video about “The Power of the Sun” created by Marcus
Villagran; a 1991 issue of the San Francisco Examiner featuring reporting on the AB101 protest; 2023 issue of the North Coast
Journal of Politics including Evans’ obituary; several profiles of Evans, including in GQ; and two photographic snapshots
from 1977.
Related Materials Note: Shards from "The Power of the Sun," collected in the wake of the 1991 AB101 protest, are in the GLBT
Historical Society Art and Artifact collection. Contact the Archives for more information.
LGBTQ
Gay men
Black people
African Americans
Art
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)