#SolidarityMural Painted Over
I’ve had murals painted over before. Sometimes a building owner wants a change or it’s time for another artists to showcase their talent. It’s progress. In a climate like Seattle, Progress is what’s determining the landscape. Building owners are finding their walls destroyed by urbanization, graffiti, urination, illegal dumping etc, so what is their recourse? Well, in my line of work, it’s to offer murals. It’s brilliant; paint a mural, get the community to love the art, and they’ll take care of it from there. It’s an added bonus if you get an artist with a personal connection to a neighborhood. I personally love public art outreach.
This past weekend the #SolidarityMural or #BlackLivesMatter mural I painted with local artists Dozer and Afroman Fall of 2016 was painted over. The mural featured a picture of one of America’s most notable black musicians from the PNW Jimi Hendrix playing an accordion (business in the building) as a street musician next to a cardboard sign reading “Playing for Solidarity” in a train station. Flanked to the side are my organic shapes similar to what you’d envision listening to Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” (a shout out to the buildings marijuana business). The mural was designed in black, white, grey and the UW colors of purple and gold. A large purple and gold BLACK LIVES MATTER was painted to look like an ad on the station wall. The message highlights our country’s infamous history of celebrating artists like Jimi Hendrix, but ignoring what someone of his color and economic status may have to struggle with to become successful.
Sadly the opportunity to have a voice for a movement built on calling attention to inequality has been squandered. Wallingford is home to some amazing murals and unique businesses. A platform like a prominent wall along a major street in the University District, home of one of the oldest Universities on the West Coast should be completely utilized. We want our academics living with topics like #BLM, Police Brutality, and Immigration Rights at the forefront of their minds. Always. The education they receive will power them to navigate the bureaucracy to initiate change in the future. They need to be the voice for the public who can’t access higher education. But we should also be fostering public art to challenge the public’s perception of accountability.
What’s frustrating is the building owner didn’t tell us this was happening. The artist* themselves went into the neighborhood art store and happened upon a friend and employee who educated him on the significance of the wall. While I don’t fault the artist, the mural itself is tone deaf. It pays no tribute the the painting underneath and mirrors what we commonly do with social issues, ignorantly paint over them. The mural is a black skyline with an astronaut afloat surrounded by purple mountain landscapes. The artist, from the east coast was brought here specifically for this mural. This problematically leads to another issue; out of towners consuming local opportunities. What’s an artist to do when you’re paid to be here for a specific job? I sympathise with his position as I’m personally gearing up to fly to Texas with #ShoutYourAbortion to paint on one of the most heavily protested abortion clinics in the US in a state that discriminates against women’s reproductive rights to a sin. I know my presence and mural will make community members agitated and infuriated.I don’t even fault the building* owners, they were just tired of their wall getting tagged. Dozer, Afro, and I stepped in to paint a mural to cease the tagging and added the bonus of a social message. We accomplished this goal. Posted are the images of community members and street art enthusiasts who celebrated this mural. Whether or not the owners were uncomfortable with the message prior were in fact instructed to change the mural at the beginning, before the community got attached to it. This entry is a perspective from one of the contributing artists, but the major pushback has come from the community itself.Lastly, I will say this of the building owners and of Seattle in general, as a home of legalized marijuana sales I would hope businesses who are making money off an industry which historically criminalize the black community for decades should feel some sort of obligation to support movements that help these communities. Ultimately it’s their wall and their space, but the city itself looks like it’s changing owners, is this really how we want to go down? No, I think not. It’s necessary to call situations like this out and talk about it.
Perhaps it was time for a change. At the end of the day, it’s a private business, the mural was showcased for a full year, the current artist did work hard, and Afro, Dozer and I will paint a new #BLMSolidatiry mural. Perhaps in a new part of the city? I don’t want to discourage businesses from having murals or working with artist who are involved in social change. What I really hope comes from this situation is the opportunity to make art count. For people to seize the opportunities it takes to create meaningful public art.Special Thanks to the friends and allies who’ve been talking about this.Artist Info;Dozer https://www.instagram.com/dozer_art/Afro https://www.instagram.com/kingfro202/179 http://onesevennine.tumblr.comPurple Haze https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjwWjx7Cw8I#SYA Mural Sitehttp://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a8631649/mcallen-abortion-clinic-texas-whole-womans-health/https://www.texasobserver.org/religious-leaders-gather-to-bless-texas-abortion-clinic/*Naming specific artists or businesses is counterproductive as the situation is hard on all our sides. Want to help? We would love to paint another #SolidarityMural please forward this article to a business owner, or wall owner that may want to help! Contact onesevennine@gmail.com Thank you for reading,Angelina 179 V.
