SEATTLE — The ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood was significantly damaged by someone who threw white paint across it.
Artists who maintain the mural said they have noticed smaller acts of vandalism at the mural in recent months, but nothing close to the scale of the damage that has been done now.
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“All the artists are shocked, we’re heartbroken,” said Takiyah Ward, a co-founder of the Vivid Matter Collective.
Ward and 16 other artists still maintain the mural, five years after it was first painted during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone in 2020.
“This mural here in Seattle is one of the only ones left in the country from that time,” she said. “This is our activism, this is our protest, we chose to protest through paint, and we will continue to do that.”
The group recently repainted the mural in mid-September. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) believes the vandalism occurred within days of the repainting.
SDOT works with Ward and the other artists to clean and maintain the mural, which is protected with plastic barriers on Pine Street.
A note was also found near the scene of the vandalism that makes statements about “Black criminals” and accuses Black people of not caring about the “murder of innocent Jews.”
“Whoever wrote it definitely has a lot of things on their mind, things on their heart,” Ward said. “It doesn’t speak to any of us or any of the work we do at all.”
The Seattle Department of Transportation provided this statement:
We’re working closely with Vivid Matter Collective to restore the artwork as soon as possible. The artists were onsite today to assess the damage, and our crews are coordinating cleanup efforts that will include hydro-blasting and pressure washing to remove the paint. SDOT remains committed to preserving this important piece of public art and ensuring it continues to be a space of pride and reflection for the community.
