Just one day before the official start of the a Republican National Convention, about 100 women gathered at dawn on a grassy bank of the Cuyahoga River. When the sun had risen high enough to shine over Cleveland’s downtown skyscrapers, they disrobed, holding large round mirrors overhead, reflecting the sun.

WATCH VIDEO FROM THE EVENT

CCTV AMERICA’S ELIZABETH SHELL VIDEO TAPED THE SHOOT FROM A ROOFTOP ACROSS THE RIVER

They were part of an art installation by New York artist Spencer Tunick : “Everything She Says Means Everything.” ‪#‎everythingshesaysmeanseverything‬ The women faced the Quicken Loans Arena, where on Thursday Donald Trump is expected to be nominated as the Republican’s nominee for president.

“I have two daughters—9 and 11—and I want them to grow up in a progressive world with equal rights and equal pay and better treatment for women, and I feel like the 100 women lighting up the sky of Cleveland will send this ray of knowledge onto the cityscape,” Tunick told Esquire.

LINK: Project photo synopsis, contains nudity. 

Tunick, a New York-based artist known for his large-scale nude art installations, said this project was meant to counter the “repressive rhetoric of the Republican National Party towards women and minorities.” 

The large mirror discs the women held reflected “the wisdom and progressive thinking of women in 2016,” he said.

However, Tunick stopped short of referring to it as a work of protest.  Twitter: @SpencerTunick

“I think of this more as action art,” he explained at his family’s home following the photography session. “It’s an art action that conveys crossing boundaries, going beyond your limits to create a moment that is powerful, but it’s not violent and confrontational in a physical way.”

More than 1,800 women volunteered to participate in the project.

It was carried out on the Cuyahoga River bank near the Quicken Loans Arena where the convention will take place from July 18 – 21.

“The police, the Coast Guard Strike Force and the FBI showed up, and they decided to let the project happen,” Tunick said. “I don’t think they were arresting naked women this morning.”

Story includes information from Reuters.