Christion one of 27 artists transforming former Sacramento dispatch station on display in Winn Park
Excerpt from 27 tributes in art to former Sacramento dispatch station on display in Winn ParkRead
By Tania Azhang
Updated August 22, 2026 10:10 AM
Those selected were given three weeks to transform the space. “I think having artists from Sacramento is really important to me. It’s very easy to get artists from L.A. or Oakland, San Francisco into a project like this,” McKinnie said. “But I was very intentional in making sure that these are homegrown artists based here, working here, that people can come through and say, ‘I know these names.’” Throughout the exhibit, each artist offers their own interpretations of a fire dispatch station.
Sacramento-based artist Chris Christion’s “All water has a perfect memory” made use of the building’s water fountain as a commentary on the role water has played in the struggle of African Americans for equality. Christion’s art creation includes video monitors. One displays images of water swishing around the screen’s golden frame. Another monitor shows a clip of children dancing from Zora Neale Hurston’s short film “Fieldworks” (1928), symbolizing the traditions of African American communities along the River Road in the American South. The fountains bear labels of “whites” and “colored,” recalling the Jim Crow era.
Chris Christion All Water Has Memory 2026 Installation image
Ellie Gainey, a Sacramento-based muralist, created faux stained-glass windows to highlight the building’s history, the current climate crisis and the park’s homeless population. One window displays the dates “1937,” the year it was built, and “2005,” the year it closed.
McKinnie’s personal favorite, “Crosstalk,” includes two red telephones on a raised podium. Viewers are invited to pick up the telephone, where they’ll hear a conversation in progress between Sacramento poet laureate Andru Defeye and Natachi Metz. The telephones were created by David Enzler, a Sacramento-based engineer.
Although the exhibit features 27 separate visions and artworks, there’s a sense of cohesion among the installations, murals and sculptures. “The energy and synergy of working together for three weeks, and then you work through each other. It’s like, ‘Okay, you’re doing that,’” McKinnie said. “(The collaboration) may influence subconsciously or intentionally, and that’s the beautiful thing. “
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