A lone dissenter aims to get a Mural Arts project removed

A Washington Square West resident is waging a one-person battle against a new — and temporary — mural by a Ukrainian native that the artist says is about hope and “being an immigrant while witnessing your home country in a midst of war.”

Despite social media posts to the contrary, the battle has not yet been won and the mural remains in place. But the lone dissenter’s complaints have resulted in a campaign by Mural Arts Philadelphia to gather and gauge residents’ reactions to the piece, the results of which will ultimately determine its fate, said Chad Eric Smith, Mural Arts spokesperson.

“There just happens to be one dissenting voice that we are aware of, but out of due diligence we want to make sure we have a formal aggregation of feedback,” Smith said.

Artist Yuliya Semenova installed her first Mural Arts piece, “Home is Where We Are,” in mid-May on the side of Tuck Barre & Yoga’s Washington Square West studio on 7th Street near Rodman.

The vibrant mural, which Smith said was approved and enthusiastically welcomed by the building’s owner, features dandelions, the Philly skyline, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, abstract shapes, and a black plume of smoke.

“I hope this mural can help you feel my gratitude to Philadelphia for welcoming me, and my feelings of hope that life will always find its way out of destruction,” Semenova wrote on the accompanying description.

Readers alerted me this week to social media posts from Tuck Barre & Yoga, which said that “Despite an overwhelming amount of written support,” the mural was being taken down because of “one vocal neighbor’s complaints.”

“None of this makes sense to us,” the posts read.

It didn’t make any sense to me either. Who prefers beige walls over murals (and do they also hate puppies)? What did the individual find so offensive about this particular piece (the Philly skyline)? And how can a lone dissenter get a public art installation taken down? (I don’t get that “Bolt of Lightning” sculpture at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge, but I’m pretty sure I can’t complain my way into getting it removed.)

My requests to talk to the artist, the owners of Tuck Barre & Yoga, and the complainant all went unanswered (so I’m not naming the dissenter in question), but Smith and Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose district covers the mural, were able to clue me in to what’s going on.

The artwork is part of a new Mural Arts pilot project called “Small Walls,” which gave three emerging artists the opportunity to create their first mural. Each mural would be temporary, in place for only a year. Short-term installations aren’t new, Smith said, and a February call-out for applications indicated that the works would be temporary.

While Squilla said it’s not necessary, Smith said it’s customary for Mural Arts to engage community members prior to the installation of a mural.

“From my understanding, the person managing the project, his outreach to the community beyond the building owner wasn’t as sufficient as we typically try and ensure,” Smith said.

Once installation began, so too did the complaints. It’s unclear who this person messaged or how many messages were sent, but Squilla and Smith said their offices both received emails.

“In broad strokes, they were quite verbose. They thought it was unsightly … and at one point they called it an eyesore,” Smith said. “The person who complained was insistent on referring to it as graffiti.”

Squilla said his office forwarded the complaints to Mural Arts, but took no further action.

“It’s private property so we don’t have any authority over private property, but Mural Arts has a policy they go by,” Squilla said. “I said, ‘Whatever you guys decide, I’m with you.’”

Squilla said it’s not the first complaint his office has received about a mural, but in every case, he’s supported whatever Mural Arts decides.

“Everybody has their own ideas on what art is and how it speaks to them, but we support the program,” he said.

Mural Arts tried to meet with the complainant in person and over the phone about their objections, but they declined their invitations, according to Smith.

And so, despite receiving “overwhelmingly positive feedback” to the artwork, Mural Arts — of its own volition — decided to start polling residents this week to determine their opinion on the mural. Fliers with a QR code to a survey about the mural were also posted in the neighborhood, according to Smith.

“Since there was a person expressing displeasure, even if they’re in the minority, we want to make sure we take in to consideration everyone’s voices,” he said. “We’ll make our decision based on the feedback we receive.”

I think it’s awfully gracious of Mural Arts to do so. Yes, their standard protocol for community engagement prior to the installation was not followed as closely as usual, but they fell on their sword for it — and outreach is not a legal requirement in the first place, since the mural is on private property.

I don’t know why the original complainant didn’t want to speak to Mural Arts, but it feels like a troubling trend indicative of a larger problem in our society. People want to complain, to tear something or someone down, but they don’t actually want to have a conversation about it, especially one which could force them to explain the position they’ve taken, or, even make them reconsider it.

“It does spark a broader conversation about dissenting voices when they’re in the minority and how much space and oxygen to provide,” Smith said.

Despite the resident’s complaints, art is still happening on every corner of this city, every day.

I can’t help but think of the Grinch or Ebenezer Scrooge, how they hated what brought others joy, but how that hatred never stopped or hardened the hearts of those who were the recipients of it.

The Whos still had their roast beast, the Cratchits still had each other, and Philly still has its artists and murals, and always will.