For a brief two-week spell in the Fall of 1976, a billowy white curtain snaked across the hills of Northern California before plunging into the Pacific Ocean. The shimmering mirage was the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, partners in art as in life, who had spent the preceding four years winning over local ranchers and navigating government bureaucracy all in the name of public art. Not that the couple complained. They saw the petitions and endless hearings as integral to the project as sketches and steel poles, elements that turned Running Fence into what they called the “ultimate art project.”
Fifty years on, the Museum of Sonoma County is commemorating the seminal installation with an exhibition that brings together blueprints, original construction materials, and documentary photographs to tell the remarkable story of just how Christo and Jeanne-Claude made it happen.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California (1972–76). Photo: Wolfgang Volz. © 1976 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.
After five months of construction, Running Fence stretched nearly 25 miles across the rolling pastures and farmlands of Sonoma and Marin counties. The resources required give a sense of scale: 240,000 square yards of woven nylon fabric, 90 miles of steel cable, 2,050 steel poles, and 13,000 anchors. They negotiated usage agreements with roughly 60 land owners, attended 18 public hearings, and were responsible for the first-ever Environmental Impact Report related to a public work of art.
Christo, collage for Running Fence (Project for Marin and Sonoma Counties, California) (1976). Photo: Charles Roussel. © 1976 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.
How exactly did a pair of European émigrés from New York’s art world gain the trust of conservative ranchers? With ease, it turned out. They simply introduced themselves, their history of creating large-scale works (such as 1972’s Valley Curtain in Colorado), and built trust over the course of years. Tellingly, at the public hearings in which environmentalists organized in opposition, the ranchers emerged as the project’s strongest advocates.
When it comes to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s most overtly political works, the wrapping of Germany’s Reichstag in 1995 or their barricade of 89 barrels that evoked the Berlin Wall stand out. Running Fence, however, was more than mere aesthetics. It proved a commentary on property rights, the democratic process, and the role of government. It was also rebellious—the fence’s descent into Bodega Bay defied the California Coastal Commission, which had not granted this final permit.
Installation of Running Fence, 1976. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. © 1976 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.
“Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s audacious definition of what art could be and who could help create it was key to the Fence,” the museum’s curator of art, Jennifer Bethke, said in a statement. “They considered the entire process part of their art—the public hearings, the government permits, and the thousands of people who participated, either willingly or not.”
As ever, the couple refused sponsorship for the project and funded Running Fence largely by selling preparatory drawings. By the time the posts were sunk and the fabric was swaying the California breeze, Christo estimated they had spent $2.25 million (upwards of $11 million today) on the project. A good chunk was spent on lawyer fees, though they also paid the roughly 300 workers well above the minimum wage.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude at Running Fence, California, 1976. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. © 1976 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.
For the artists and the region itself, it was money well spent. As the museum noted, Running Fence shifted Sonoma County from a traditional agricultural community into a hub for art and as Christo put it in 1977: “I don’t think any museum exhibition has touched so profoundly hundreds of thousands of people who visited Running Fence.”
“Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Running Fence at 50 Years” is on view at the Museum of Sonoma County, 425 7th St, Santa Rosa, California, June 27–November 8, 2026.