Making It Safe (1979)

Lacy was commissioned by Communitas, a community organizing group in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica, to raise awareness on violence against women in the area. She and her collaborators distributed leaflets, created a series of events, speak-outs on incest, small dialogues, and curated an art show in thirty windows of the local commercial district. Artist Monica Mayer from Mexico created one of several individual performances for the event, and a guerilla group papered over a local porn shop with images of women protesting. After a series of intimate dinners at residents' homes, Making It Safe was celebrated with a final candlelight dinner performance in the local park featuring 250 women that had been a part of the project. Making It Safe was considered an Ariadne: A Social Art Network project and was partially funded by the Law Enforcement Agency of America to advance initiatives on recognizing violence against women at a community level.