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SOUTH SALT LAKE — Derek Dyer noticed something different as he drove past a series of public murals aligning West Temple on his way to a meeting Monday morning.
Many of the murals, which was commissioned by South Salt Lake and the Utah Arts Alliance earlier in 2018 as an art initiative, had been vandalized by someone who covered portions of the artwork with large caricatures. They sprayed in an image of a person with a frowning face, a pizza slice and a spray can. Each was apparently added by someone the night before.
“It’s kind of a sad situation. Normally, people put up murals to keep graffiti off of their buildings, and it’s very effective,” Dyer, the executive director for the Utah Arts Alliance, told KSL.com. “I really feel like this is someone that’s obviously not an artist. It’s very amateurish, almost like they picked up a spray-paint can for their first time and it’s very terrible-looking.
“It’s just someone who is trying to get rid of public art.”
The graffiti Dyer saw on Monday wasn’t the only mural vandalism believed to have been caused over Thanksgiving weekend.
Geri Cordova, who designed a large cat mural outside the Tinker’s Cat Cafe, at 302 E. 900 South in Salt Lake City, was furious when she learned on Friday that her mural had been tagged. Someone left two giant circles and the words “Bad Bois” on the mural.
Similar taggings were reported on other buildings in Sugar House, she said.
“People put their heart and soul into their work. Anyone who uses a spray-paint can that way — it’s a shame,” Cordova said.
Now, artists, art enthusiasts and law enforcement authorities are searching for clues to who is responsible for defacing multiple murals in South Salt Lake and Salt Lake City.
Police from both cities fielded reports of mural vandalism. They include the public mural on the side of Tinker’s Cat Cafe, at least another mural in Sugar House, and at least seven murals in an area of South Salt Lake near 2100 South and West Temple, according to Dyer. Cordova said she believes there are more than that.
It’s unclear if the cases are related, police said.
Both South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller and Salt Lake police detective Greg Wilking said they aren’t sure the graffiti is gang-related, but they were concerned about the matter. Wilking described the damage as “intrusive” because it’s difficult to simply remove the graffiti without damaging the mural artwork.
“It just breaks my heart,” Keller added. “It’s mean and hateful ... it’s disheartening.”
Dyer said it’s also possible the vandalism could be someone out to destroy artwork.
“I really don’t feel like this is a graffiti artist. Normally, most graffiti artists would respect these other pieces of artwork,” he said. “I feel like this is someone who is just trying to make some sort of an anti-art, anti-cultural statement. It’s kind of like a backward way of pretending to be a graffiti artist to deface these murals and try to get rid of them.”
Dyer said the murals in South Salt Lake were completed in May. The South Salt Lake City Arts Council and Utah Arts Alliance sought after various artists to place murals across the city, Dyer said. Some of the murals were paid for through donations, business sponsors, building owners, as well as from South Salt Lake and art alliance funds.
The art alliance began alerting the building owners Monday and were hoping to find security footage to produce any possible clues.
I really don’t feel like this is a graffiti artist. Normally, most graffiti artists would respect these other pieces of artwork.
–Derek Dyer, executive director for the Utah Arts Alliance
The Utah Arts Alliance also set up a GoFundMe page* Monday to gather funds to repair the damage caused by the vandal in South Salt Lake. Officials said they might have to replace sections that were tagged.
“We want to try to restore the murals, and this time we’ll cover them with an anti-graffiti coating,” Dyer said. “I feel like this is one bad apple and most street artists and most graffiti artists would never do something like this.”
Cordova plans to paint over the graffiti on her mural Wednesday. She said uses a protective coat but it sometimes doesn’t work on certain surfaces. However, she said she’ll re-paint her work as many times as she needs to because she strongly believes in the business she’s helping out, as well as other local businesses.
“This place helps animals get homes. You sit there and have coffee and adopt a cat. That’s the sad part,” she said. “If I have to keep painting over it, I will.”
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
