Today a crew from the city of @lawrenceks defaced our building without our building owner's consent or our approval...they also conspicuously lacked painting experience, knowledge of historic code, and any interest in preserving the appearance of our downtown. After:
Before:
The After photo above is actually how it appeared *after* we first discovered what happened and asked that sloppier efforts be remedied. If the goal is to fix unsightly graffiti... major fail, #lfk.
And don’t even get me started on this beautiful and important #waterislife mural, also destroyed pointlessly.
Sidebar to Lawful Neutrals out there: We know street art is not always sanctioned and embraces its own fleeting nature. But the reasons cities have for buffing out tags and murals are complex and deserve scrutiny. (1/2)
We’ve been working with the city to preserve these artworks for 2 weeks since learning it was our responsibility to clear them; the city overstepping today, over a month in advance of our given deadline, seems likely to be a miscommunication but it’s also an irreversible mistake.
*Correction: a crew from Douglas County District Court, with no jurisdiction to paint our building.
Follow up as algorithms mean our more recent tweet may not be seen while this one will: it wasn’t the city’s call! We’re preserving this thread tho, for transparency and because it contains worthwhile community insights that are an important part of furthering the convo IRL. 👍🏼
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