Joe Patillo didn’t know he was part of an unauthorized painting crew that destroyed a community mural. Patillo says he was duped and, to top it off, didn’t even get paid. Photo by Kirk Ross
By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
A bizarre chain of events Tuesday erased a mural painted five years ago by scores of residents as a community-building event — an act that has many outraged and wondering why someone would do such a thing.
“It’s really, really strange,†Francis Chan, owner of Jade Palace, said about the mid-day painting over of the community mural on the West side of his restaurant. “Why would somebody do this? It’s insane.â€
Brian Plaster, owner of The Metal Shop, said Larry Hayes, former owner of Broad Street Coffee, had stopped by his shop and asked to borrow a ladder. Plaster said Hayes was acting a bit strange at the time, but he agreed to help take the ladder down to a crew of three men hired out from the men’s homeless shelter on Rosemary Street.
Plaster said it wasn’t until police contacted him that he realized what had happened.
The mural after its completion in 2002. Photo by Jackie Helvey
Gone are dozens of small blocks painted by artists and volunteers. In their place is a freshly painted wall of solid, chalky mint-green.
Sitting at the bus stop Tuesday afternoon with his hands spattered with paint, shelter resident Joe Patillo was still shaking his head. He and two other shelter residents had been recruited for the job. It wasn’t until Chan drove up that Patillo realized no one had given permission for the wall to be painted.
“I felt awful that he didn’t know about it,†Patillo said.
Patillo said the story began when a man stopped by and said he was looking for some day labor. The crew went out to Carrboro Plaza, Patillo said, and picked up supplies and then went to the parking lot between the police station and Jade Palace and began setting up.
They were just finishing the job, Patillo said, and the man who hired him had left to dump the trash and paint cans, when Chan arrived and started asking what was happening.
“He said, ‘Who authorized you to do this?’†Patillo said. A few minutes later the man who hired him returned, and Patillo said once he saw what was going on, he drove off.
“He said he would pay us when he got back, but he just took off once he saw what was happening,†Patillo said.
Chan said he did not recognize the man, who was driving a Subaru with an Enterprise Rental Car license plate. Chan said he will ask Carrboro police to check with the rental agency and try to find the man who hired the painters.
Kim Matin, who organized the mural painting as a community-building event and a fundraiser for Club Nova, was stunned to hear about what happened Wednesday.
The mural’s theme was “What does community mean to me?†More than 80 volunteers helped design and paint it and the event raised more than $5,000 for Club Nova.
“It’s so bizarre that something like that would happen right in town,†she said. This is such a big loss. The wall was one of Carrboro’s children.â€
Emily Weinstein, the artist who directed the work on the mural, called the painting over a “hideous act of vandalism.â€
The wall after it was painted over. Photo by Kirk Ross
“It’s painful to me to see so many people’s work destroyed in such a vicious manner,†she said. As well as being stunned by the act, Weinstein said she just couldn’t fathom why someone would do such a mean-spirited thing. “It’s fascinating that someone would go to such measures to hurt so many people.â€
If Hayes should prove to be the person who hired the men, one possible reason may lie in his battle with the town over the Broad Street sign painted on the brick at his former coffee shop, which the town said was in violation of its sign ordinance. After repeatedly fining Hayes for failing to correct the violation, the town threatened in August of 2005 to impound the building. Hayes painted over the sign.
Chan said he would likely press charges.
After it was completed in 2002, the community mural itself was deemed in violation of the town’s sign rules since it had the names of businesses in it. The mural was altered in 2003, replacing the business names with words from a 32-word poem composed by then Carrboro poet laureate Patrick Heron.
Matin said she hopes the town rallies to do something positive.
“There is, I guess, an opportunity,†she said. “Clearly, there a wall waiting for something to happen.â€
Note: The paper has Wednesday in the first graph (sigh). It happened on Tuesday.
I’m really sad that this happened. Who owns the building that the mural was on?
Here is my idea of what we should do next. (cross posted on OP and yesh.com)
In light of the fact that the old mural is gone this is an excellent opportunity for the Town to make lemon aid outa’ lemons. (sorry for the tired analogy) :)
I suggest that ya’ll create a official town graffiti contest. (YES embrace the word graffiti. Contradict the negative connotation that graffiti is only for gang bangers) Identify some talented local spray can artists who will have a “battleâ€. They can compete on creating two separate pieces of street art at the same time. They would have a time limit. Say 48 hours.
In conjunction with this contest you could set aside a piece of the wall just for random graffiti and stencil art (etc) by anyone. It would be painted over every two weeks or a month. That way you get lots of interesting art over time, cover over offensive gang stuff, and teach people about the beauty of change.
This is a constructive way to get creative kids involved in their community instead of “defacing†property. I think we may even be able to get the police involved in working with the kids on making some spray art. That is the kind of out reach that could work and the Town of Carrboro could pull off.
I realize this would require property owner permission. If not at the mural across from the century center then else where.
Lets embrace the art of youth!
A quick search through the Orange County Public GIS shows the property listed under Chan.
This act seems so childish on the surface so far.
I thought I noticed something different walking along there. I have to admit that upon reading this article, my first thought was one of incredulation. People talk about ‘vandalism’ and public defacing of signs to draw attention to an issue. I’ve seen my share of graphittie here at Carr Mill, that’s for sure – but nothing on the scale of this. I mean the person that did this had to have some sort of real conviction to pull it off. We’re talking about someone who not only vandalized a painted mural, but did it in very complete premeditated fashion – by using other people in broad daylight! It takes a while to paint a whole wall over and we’re not just talking about any wall – but one that is across from the busiest place in town, Weaver St, right next to the Century Center and the police station.
And no one noticed!
Either he’s a criminal mastermind or people in Carrboro need to pay a little more attention to what’s going on around them. Look around and notice when something seems out of sorts – its your community, help keep an eye on it.
It’s 5 years since that mural went up. Maybe with the property owner’s permission, the mural could be updated every year, and 3 guys from Club Noveau could be hired to repaint it – and actually get paid. That would be nice, fresh, and remove the power from future vandals, no matter how clever they are.
One week later and the N&O and the Chapel Hill News still don’t get the Larry Hayes connection. Great scoop, Citizen!
Is there a warrant for Larry Hayes’ arrest? I don’t know where to look in the statutes and ordinances to find something to apply to this reprehensible deed of vandalism, but Hayes, or whoever did this, should be charged with some crime. Accolades to Kirk and the Citizen! Charles Foster Kane himself would be proud of this fine example of using the power of the press to defend the community.
The most recent Chapel Hill News article about the mural alludes to the fact that the perpetrator of this crime may no longer be in North Carolina. Thus being very hard for the police to charge him.