Friday, May 24, 2024

Someone painted over this brand new mural on 12th Street and Avenue C

Update 5/25: Michela will be recreating the mural here on Sunday during the Loisaida Festival.

Earlier this week, Brooklyn-based artist Michela Muserra (seen in the top photo taken several days ago) finished a new mural on the SW corner of 12th Street and Avenue C — aka the 12C Outdoor Gallery

This morning, residents awoke to find that someone had hastily (and inexplicably) whited out the mural. We're told the white paint was still wet.
A block source told us that a few parents and students from the Children's Workshop School "were standing in front of it, openly sad and almost weeping that something so beautiful got destroyed." 

We hear that residents filed a police report ... and were told that "the perps" were captured on multiple surveillance cameras and could charged with criminal mischief. 

Muserra titled the work "Despues de la lluvia" ("After the rain"), a sister mural to one that she created in Caguas, Puerto Rico. 

This morning, she reacted to the vandalism in an Instagram post: "Oh well, not mad to be honest. I can redo that in a matter of hours, not even worried about the paint. That is not the problem. The problem is their miserable life where apparently the most exciting thing is to go over other people's work. A work done for the community."

The work was completed ahead of the annual Loisaida Festival this Sunday.

The corner building is owned by the city and managed by Asian Americans for Equality in conjunction with the Tenant Interim Lease Program, the Affordable Neighborhood Co-op Program, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Ownership is planning to press charges, we're told.

7 comments:

BLAHBLAHBLAH said...

An act like this, targeting that mural only, has to be personal. Start with people who have grudges against the artist.

MC said...

Unfortunately the police have no interest in getting rid of the graffiti that has taken over the entire east village. There are a few locations in the neighborhood where they could wait just a few hours before the newly painted wall gets re-tagged. They should "up" the penalty to having suspect do 160 hours of community service specifically repainting or scrubbing off graffiti from buidlings.

hywel dda said...

I have to agree with Michaela. How sad that some people take the gift of a life and only use it to destroy, never to create. Thank heaven we have such motivated artists in the EV that will continue to CREATE!

TSP Neighbor said...

That's just mean.

Cotton said...

We know who did this! Police are verifying the footage from cameras! https://evgrieve.com/2024/05/someone-painted-over-this-brand-new.html

stephen b said...

Who is the person, in the photograph, smiling at the camera?
Photo appears - if you study the photo - to be taken after the whitewashing.
I'm just curious, a small mystery.

Grieve said...

SB,

The top photo features the artist, Michela Muserra ... in a shot taken and shared on Instagram several days ago.