Raleigh climate activist sentenced after vandalism at National Gallery of Art
Raleigh architect and climate activist Timothy Martin will serve 18 months in prison for vandalizing a display case at the National Gallery of Art, an act he described as civil disobedience meant to inspire action on global warming.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced Martin on Monday after a jury found him guilty in April on two counts of conspiracy and injuring government property, charges prosecutors brought after he and fellow activist Joanna Smith smeared washable paint on the case containing an Edgar Degas sculpture.
Prosecutors had sought a five-year sentence. In her sentencing, Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave Martin credit for time served, meaning he will be free in roughly a year. He must also pay $4,250 in restitution, serve two years of supervised probation and complete 150 hours of community service — 20 hours of which must involve cleaning graffiti.
“This is the work we have to do,” he told The N&O in February, “to wake up, grow up and step up. Right now, we’re living in a fairytale matrix created by the American empire ... It really is a calling from our better selves that is in us, that’s been stolen from us and beaten out of us.”
Why was Degas’ sculpture chosen to be vandalized?
Martin and Smith chose to deface the exhibit for Edgar Degas’ “Little Dancer of Fourteen Years,” an original wax sculpture with its arms pulled back and its head cocked confidently forward. In doing so they selected a ragamuffin figure of 19th-century Paris, an “opera rat” dancing for her supper to escape the streets.
As Smith explained before her arrest, “She is imperfect like we are all imperfect, but she is strong, and she is not resigned.” Smith, from New York, has already pleaded guilty and served 60 days in jail.
For Martin, a Raleigh architect and father of two, the prospect of time in a cell was trifling compared to the death toll that will follow if the global temperature rises by 2 degrees Celsius — roughly 1 billion people, according to a 2023 study.
But federal prosecutors argued Martin’s activism caused deep harm.
“The art exhibit had to be removed from public display for ten days, robbing many, including those traveling from abroad, the opportunity to appreciate this work,” they noted in court documents. “His actions deeply impacted the employees of that museum who, to this day, are concerned about repeat attacks. Mr. Martin has expressed no remorse for his actions. To the contrary, during trial, he testified and repeatedly claimed that despite what multiple experts said, he did not and could not have caused any harm. He is wrong.”
Letters from character witnesses
Martin’s attorney, meanwhile, submitted numerous letters to the court from character witnesses, many of whom described the activist as peaceful, kind and conscientious.
“Tim was, and is, a helper, not a destroyer,” wrote Frank Harmon, Raleigh architect and professor at NC State University. “While he remains in jail, awaiting sentencing, he has continued to help others. As an artist as well as an architect, he sketches portraits at the request of fellow inmates to send to their families.
“He also helps inmates prepare for their GCE exams. Tim calls me every week from his cell. From our conversations, I believe that he has learned from his experience and is deeply ashamed of his actions. He has much to offer in service to society.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.