The Black Lives Matter mural on Park City’s Main Street was vandalized Tuesday night, just days after it was completed.
The word “black” was painted over with grey paint. So was the image of a fist that makes up the letter “i” in the word “lives”. The result is that the phrase “Black Lives Matter” becomes “Lives Matter.”
The artist who painted the mural, Aljay Fuimoano, posted a video showing the vandalism on his Instagram account, @manusina_art. He commented, “Black Lives Matter movement is a plea from black lives to let them be apart of all lives matter. All lives Should Matter! I see many agreeing that black lives aren’t suffering, and that this is all fake news…. I’m on Stand-by to repaint.”
The Park City Summit County Arts Council Executive Director Jocelyn Scudder and Park City Mayor Andy Beerman told KPCW radio Wednesday morning that the mural was one of four murals commissioned by the city by Utah artists of color, and the goal was to inspire conversations about racial inequailty. All the murals were painted during the fourth of July weekend.
On Wednesday afternoon, Beerman released a statement saying, in part, "Painting over the Main Street murals last night was an act of petty vandalism and now becomes part of Park City's history. We will use this event to further our community dialogue about social inequities." The mayor's entire statement is posted above.