Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Running Fence (1972–76) was a temporary environmental artwork that was situated in Northern California and designed in the shape of a fence that extended 24 miles through the undulating landscape of Marin and Sonoma counties. I worked on the project as an associate project director. At the time, I lived in a Motel 6 in Petaluma, rising every morning well before dawn, around 3:30 a.m., to drive Jeanne-Claude and Christo to visit farmers before they milked their cows. The aim was to convince landowners to sign contracts allowing access to their land so that an art project could exist for two weeks. Were it not for Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s smiles, obsessive personalities, and irresistible senses of humor, none of those deals would’ve been possible, and we wouldn’t have had Running Fence…
Art Practical