In 1979, the State of California approved a proposal by the Stellar Arts Collective to create The Power of the Sun. The stained glass installation would grace the entry and lobby of the state’s office building in San Francisco.

The proposal noted “new ways of looking at the universe…are being achieved daily,” and the artwork was intended to invoke these new possibilities. Visitors to the building were imagined as an important part of the installation; when combined with the varying hues of stained glass, visitors and pedestrians would form “a stream of color and shape” between the otherwise gray buildings of the plaza.

As a founding member of the Stellar Arts Collective, Richard William Evans helped to propose, create, and install the artwork. His collection in our archives, which was recently digitized, includes photos and documentation that follow the conceptualization and installation of the artwork, as well as profiles on Evans and interviews that offer valuable insights in his remarkable life.

Evans was a Black gay artist, community advocate, and participant in the “back-to-the-land” movement. Having grown up on the East Coast, he moved to San Francisco in the late 1960s, and drew inspiration from the revolutionaries around the world who were dreaming up new ways of being, and those seeking communal living outside the city. The Power of the Sun, his collective’s masterpiece, captured the various threads of his life and gestured towards the power of community to reshape the world.

Given the themes and messages of the artwork, its destruction was an ironic tragedy. In 1991, California Governor Pete Wilson vetoed AB101, a bill that would have banned discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation. A protest was called in response, and a scuffle between protesters and police in front of the State of California building resulted in the destruction of The Power of the Sun barely a decade after its installation.

The Power of the Sun was designed to invoke new ways of looking at the world, and the power of collective action. Even in its destruction, its message lived on; a year after AB101 was vetoed, another bill passed and was finally signed by the governor, banning discrimination against LGBTQ people in the workplace. The collective strength of advocates and activists – the power of the sum of us – finally succeeded in bringing a more just world one step closer.

A collection of materials documenting the conceptualization and installation of The Power of the Sun was donated to the GLBT Historical Society’s archives in 2023, after Evans’ passing. This collection is now available online, along with dozens of other digital resources that enable people from around the world to explore our vast queer past.

A version of this story appears in the San Francisco Bay Times, part of a partnership to share selections from our vast archives with their readers each month. Pick up a copy of the paper, or visit their website to explore the complete series.

Andrew Shaffer directs the society’s outreach, media and fundraising programs. Prior to joining the society, he led development efforts with multiple local nonprofits. He is trained as a historian, and his academic background includes graduate work at the University of San Francisco and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he helped to build that city’s first permanent LGBTQ archives.