This mural in southwest Atlanta has caused a major controversy. On one hand, the local former councilperson, Doug Dean, got together with members of the local community and erased a mural without going through any of the proper channels. As activists for mural protections, we advocate for the protection of murals and invoke the federal VARA act that requires that the artist be notified and compensated for any damages done her/his artwork. Its a bold statement when a former legislator breaks the law to remove the mural. Apparently, there was a petition drive to save the mural that was ignored by the residents who took matters into their own hands to paint it out.
We have to look at the other side of the coin in this situation as well. Its pretty clear that this piece was really disconnected from the community that it was placed in. It was painted by a French artist and arranged as part of the Living Walls Conference. Living Walls is akin to a “street art” version of the Meeting of Styles. Artists from all over are invited to paint large walls. Its a great networking opportunity for artists, collectors, and fans. However, often times, the community is overlooked in both invitation and consultation when its comes to these murals in the community. And because the trend in street art has been “art for arts sake.” none of the artwork is tailored to history or demographics of the neighborhood. And because, generally there are more run-down building in poor communities of color, their walls are targeted for artwork, with little to no engagement with the local residents. These street art “conferences” can easily turn into a massive wave of gentrification for a neighborhood in a little as a week.
We have to watch out for the double standards here. Pittsburgh has been poor, black community since in the 1880s that was on the verge of development and gentrification until the Great Recession began in 2008. It seems apparent that this is a tight knit community. When the local residents did not get traction quick enough, they took matters into their own hands! CRP has to respect that. We’ve been advocating for communities to take local control over their blighted walls for many years. We don’t support the buff but we appreciate the local community being pro-active. The next logical step would be for a local artist from Pittsburgh to create a new piece that reflects the neighborhood more clearly. What doesn’t need to happen is that this wall stay blank. This is the opportunity for a powerful dialogue and we hope something creative comes out of it.
Roti’s Living Walls mural in southwest Atlanta painted over by community members without a permit
State Rep. Ralph Long, D-Sylvan Hills, tells CL that he visited University Avenue after he saw a Facebook photo of the mural, which was painted by French artist Pierre Roti as part of Living Walls Concepts, being buffed over with roller paint by community members.
Former state Rep. Doug Dean, who lives in the nearby Pittsburgh neighborhood, was among them. When Long approached Dean and the others, he says the group claimed to not have any permits to paint over the mural, which is located on a retaining wall owned by the DOT.
Dean tells CL that he and the others painted over the wall because the community was not consulted about the mural, which depicts a creature with a man’s body and an alligator’s head.
However, Living Walls did consult with and get permission from Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow, who represents the area. Surrounding community members had recently expressed concerns over the work and pushed to get it removed, which has sparked a petition by mural supporters.
“It is so wrong for them to get peititons from people who live in Capitol View and Sylvan Hills and not come to Pittsburgh and talk to us,” he tells CL. “All we want is a process for how to deal with artists who come to our neighborhood and doing what they want to do. We have some art we want to do in our community.”
It’s the second time a piece associated with Living Walls has been painted over — or to be more blunt, vandalized — by people who disagree with the work. This summer, some residents of Chosewood Park and Benteen Park were angered by a mural painted by Hyuro depicting a woman morphing into a wolf. The art was ultimately painted over after someone vandalized the piece.
More details to come.
UPDATE, 12:22 p.m. Interesting. Apparently a Facebook event page was created to vandalize the wall?
UPDATE, 2:45 p.m.: Mural supporters and the Georgia Department of Transportation picked up buckets of soap and water and brushes and are scrubbing the gray paint off the mural.
There is some dispute over whether the property owner or GDOT owns the retaining wall. We’re trying to learn more.
Here’s a video by state Rep. Ralph Long, D-Sylvan Hills, featuring Doug Dean, a former state lawmaker and Pittsburgh resident who helped paint over the mural, talking about why community members vandalized the wall.
UPDATE 4:46 p.m.: An APD spokesman tells CL:
A report for the incident involving the mural was written, however, it isn’t ready for release. An employee of Living Walls Atlanta called police when community members painted over a mural at 272 University Dr. It appears that members of the community painted over the mural because they objected to its content. The community member reported to police that he was given permission to paint over it. Both parties agreed to bring the matter to the community board and city permit department for resolution.
8 comments
Although Living Walls and others do not appreciate your perspective, I truly appreciate your article. I appreciate that even as a self-proclaimed mural protection activist, you present the view point of the community. Actually, I live in one of the neighboring communities and I found the mural an inappropriate choice for a historically oppressed and depressed community. Painting such an obviously abstract image without explanation rather than something that respects the community such as something that references the history of the communities is disrespectful to the residents in my opinion. I believe that there are many other murals in and around Atlanta that have not been defaced; that display something about the community; that the commoner can relate to–this was a poor choice and poorly executed in my opinion. I do not condone the actions of the protestors, however, I can understand their frustration. It appears that although someone in government approved/commissioned this piece of art, the artist, Living Walls, and the government thought nothing of the community. How would they like for someone to come into their backyard and paint something that he/she perceived as art rather than considering how they felt?
This is a consistent challenge that muralists, aerosol writers and “street artists” face if we are concerned with the impact and integrity of the work. On one hand, the bureaucracy, low-budgets of the projects, and city mandated approval processes significantly hinder our ability to significantly build in the communities that we are painting. Unless a community design process is funded to support the artist, we often have to take on these responsibilities on our own. It is extremely difficult for “local” muralists to sustain themselves off of their artwork without traveling to other cities for projects. How many paid mural jobs does any city offer in a year? For how many years? How does that compare to the number of qualified artists seeking them. On top of that, we have no health plans, no insurance, regular bills, families, etc. So on that level of survival as artists, when opportunities arise out of state, or internationally, we take them. Increase exposure, a new market. But it is difficult to make the necessary local connections, to understand the politics and community dynamics in the short amount of time that we are invited to work.
On many levels, the process to create new artwork needs to be streamlined rather than having new hurdles introduced. Murals like Roti’s need to have protections, so that vigilante groups do not destroy them haphazardly. On the other hand, the community needs to be empowered to take over responsibility for the walls in their neighborhood, if they so choose. Had a system of community based murals been supported prior to this project, then Pittsburgh residents could have adopted it a long time ago!
Living Walls attempted to do something good for the muralists, public art, “street art”, and aerosol community. They brought together numerous artists from around the world and provided them space to do their work, funding for their travel, and compensated them for the art. They jumped through the bureaucratic hurdles that would have made these projects impossible for the individual artists coming from elsewhere. The area that Living Walls failed was community engagement. How did the local residents know what was being painted? How were they introduced to the artists? How was the community celebrated in all of this? And why should the local residents be expected to value something different, something that the value hasn’t been explained to them? So residents thought the mural was Satanic! It sounds incredible to many art aficionados, but if that was the perception, how can be so hard to understand the public taking matters into their own hands?