The Burlington City Council will consider on Monday two options for replacing a downtown mural after one protester’s graffiti sparked a growing stream of dissent.
Councilor Ali Dieng (D/P-Ward 7) has condemned the mural as “racist” and is asking the city to remove the offending artwork and convene a commission that would replace it.
In a separate resolution, Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) put forward a more ambiguous solution. Her proposal, which is supported by Mayor Miro Weinberger, would create a task force to “consider a wide range of options that leads to a more inclusive outcome.”
The 124-by-16-foot piece of art called “Everyone Loves a Parade!” depicts a host of Vermont leaders and personalities — almost all of whom are white — including Weinberger, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Grace Potter, John Deere, Madeleine Kunin and Maria von Trapp.
The mural, which was unveiled in 2012, stretches along Leahy Way, an alley that runs between Church Street and the Marketplace parking garage.
The controversy began in October when activist Albert Petrarca wrote “Off the Wall” in black spray paint on the mural’s identification plaque. Petrarca called the public artwork a “white supremacist symbol.” He was cited for unlawful mischief, and later posted a video to Youtube in which he and two other men visited the mayor’s office to request a change.
Others have since taken up the torch.
In public remarks at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Burlington, Dieng criticized the mural because it does not depict members of the Abenaki tribe, people with disabilities, the gay and lesbian communities, or the 14 percent nonwhite student body of Burlington schools.
He told Weinberger and Sanders, both of whom had spoken previously at the event, that they should not stand for being depicted in the “controversial” artwork.
“If you cannot take the mural down, please ask them to take you away from that mural,” said Dieng, who is the only nonwhite member of the city council. “We need leaders who care.”
The solution may not be so simple. Pierre Hardy, the artist, has said that he has no interest in amending the mural, according to Dieng. The mural was also privately funded and some businesses, including Ben & Jerry’s and Sweetwaters, paid for their logos to be included in the image.
Under Dieng’s resolution, which is also sponsored by councilors Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) and Sara Moore (P-Ward 3), the city attorney has 30 days to consider the options to remove and replace the art. The resolution calls the mural’s design an “egregious mistake” by the city.
The resolution proposes the creation of a nine-member committee to design and produce an alternative piece of art.
Shannon’s resolution, which the council will also take up Monday, proposes a seven-member mural task force that would consider “amending the current mural, removing it and/or creating a new or additional work of art that better represents Burlington’s diversity, or other options not yet discussed.”
Correction, January 29, 2018: A previous version of this story misstated Mayor Weinberger’s role on Shannon’s proposed task force. He is not involved.
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Take a walk through the Old North End. All those murals should be taken down. They are not an accurate depiction of the hard working lower class who lived and worked there for decades. Families who looked out for each other during rough times. All I see is images of people who settled here in the last ten years and were given a free ride including housing, cars, businesses etc. Now you cant even walk the streets safely at night. I DEMAND they be fixed! Sound familiar?…
I am just shaking my head in disgust. For cryin’ out loud, or wimper, I don’t care, how about painting a NEW mural that is so all inclusive that Ali and his PC cronies will have to start paying attention to the actual business of Burlington, financial.
“Racism is a sustem if opressionncreates long before you or Inwas born that privileged white people and disadvantages people of color. It is in every fashion of our nation, state and country. At this place in history it is not always intentional and white people regularly do not see the damage it causes. However it is there. White people will be the ones who dismantle it because in a world with extreme racism white people are the only people with the real power to do so. I think you need some education in what racism is…there is no racism that exists against white people..” Corrine Mertz
You have been conditioned well. .
“who taught you to hate yourself?
Malcom X
food for thought for the anti white folks
I never new there was so many oppressed white people in Vermont
Its laughably absurd to read some of these PC comments
You people can only act in the manner you are told
Currently you are told to hate white people.
so you comply with ridiculous complaints
a few hundred years ago you would have been calling for witches to be burned
so righteous in your assumptions of morality
what a joke you people are
Hate yourself
leave the other white folks alone
So now in the name of inclusion Burlington and its city council is looking into the possibility of destroying works of art… So, when are we headed to Fletcher Free Library to start the book burning?
To each argument separately:
THE MURAL IS VERMONT HISTORY:
The mural includes people who are important to Vermont, Vermont “characters,” and people who at least visited, even if their connection is a bit of a stretch.
It also includes completely random historical figures and pop references like Abe Lincoln and Elvis, neither of whom have any connection to Vermont and are featured prominently in the mural. Additionally, Edward James Almos is featured because the painter had a lack of imagination and thought he looked like the Garcia’s Tobacco Shop’s logo.
WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE MURAL?
The mural wasn’t about accurately portraying Vermonters or Vermont’s history. The mural was about advertisement: Church Street shops paid for the mural and, depending on their contribution size, could have their logo, store front, mascot, painted into the mural (the more they spent the better the placement would be too).
Feel free to fact check the above comments here:
1) https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/the-church-street-marketplace-spruces-up-with-a-new-mural/Content?oid=2184061
2) https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/why-is-edward-james-olmos-on-a-mural-of-vermont-history/Content?oid=3632862
I wonder if the pyramids are next…those were built by slaves…probably the Vatican too.
I live in Essex.. I know I don’t pay taxes to Burlington…however…I loved Burlington as a city that was geared towards college and festivals…tourists. Now…the city is torn up because you want an 13 story building. No parking…Macy’s gone…Panera gone…see what’s happening? Ok…I can’t walk that far to walk for blocks to enjoy a beautiful day downtown. The mural depicts the history of Vermont. It’s beautiful. It’s a treasure. It’s a tourist destination. Don’t take that away too. Another thing. Essex just merged its’ schools with Westford. The taxpayers were guaranteed a tax savings on property taxes. 4%! Before we saw it the town had a raise and we got !%, You’re not gaining anything people…vote for a new government before they sell it off.
Most of the so-called Vermonters in the mural are foreigners.
This mural is a billboard for white supremacy. Thanks to Ali and many in our community for helping us see that. Those who continue to support it share in the implicit, systemic racism which is widespread in Vermont. We deserve better. The mural must come down!