Survey says: This Mural Arts project can stay, despite a dissenter’s attempts to get it removed

In his military treatise The Art of War, ancient Chinese general and philosopher Sun Tzu wrote, “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

That’s just what Mural Arts Philadelphia has done after a lone dissenter waged war on a new mural in Washington Square West and the nonprofit found an artfully peaceful way to prove that the detractor was squarely in the minority.

Last week, I told you about artist Yuliya Semenova’s new mural, Home is Where We Are, which was installed in mid-May on the side of Tuck Barre & Yoga’s Washington Square West studio on Seventh Street near Rodman, with the approval of the building’s owner.

For Semenova, who is from Ukraine, the vibrant mural is “a meditation on being an immigrant while witnessing your country in a midst of war” and an expression of the hope and gratitude she’s found here in Philly.

Despite the fact that the mural was designed to be temporary and only in place for a year, one area resident decided they didn’t like it and began an email campaign to try to get it removed. In their emails, this individual referred to the mural as an “eyesore” and “graffiti,” according to Chad Eric Smith, Mural Arts’ spokesperson.

It’s not clear why this person was so incessant about trying to get the mural taken down. They did not speak to Mural Arts, despite multiple attempts by the nonprofit to engage them in conversation, and they did not return my requests to speak with them either.

While community preapproval is not required to put a mural on private property, Mural Arts’ standard protocol for community engagement prior to the mural’s installation “wasn’t as sufficient as we typically try and ensure” in this case, Smith said.

And so, despite “overwhelmingly positive feedback,” in light of the dissenter’s complaints Mural Arts decided to conduct a survey of area residents last week to determine their opinions on whether the mural should stay up for the full year as it was intended to, or be removed.

On Tuesday, Mural Arts released its findings. Out of 75 fliers they distributed, 40 nearby neighbors responded, with 90% in support of the mural. Only 10% opposed.

“We also received numerous positive notes praising the artwork. As promised, the mural will remain for the full 12 months,” Smith said in a statement. “This decision reflects our commitment to community engagement and aligns with Mural Arts’ mission to beautify, inspire, and empower through public art.”

In an email I received from Semenova after my first column, she said she was honored to receive so much support.

“My goal is to remind people that we are all alike even if it is not visible at first,” she wrote. “We all need home, safety, and love.”

It’s great to see art and hope win out in Philly — not that I ever had any doubt they would. And while I still think Mural Arts was too gracious in responding to the dissenter’s campaign to remove the mural by conducting a community survey, I think there’s a lesson for us all in how they handled this, too.

Mural Arts acknowledged the dissenter but it also acknowledged its own misstep on the front-end outreach that may have engaged this individual prior to the mural’s installation.

When the person in question chose not to speak with Mural Arts after the installation, the nonprofit didn’t just send out angry emails. It quietly gathered the opinions of others to support its work, to prove why the mural should stay.

The voice of one person with a strong opinion and a keyboard can be loud and jarring, but the calm, collected, and officially documented voices of the many are far more powerful.