[T]he Burlington City Council has voted to set a goal of relocating the controversial “Everyone Loves a Parade” mural, now in the Church Street Marketplace, by August 2022.
The council voted 8-3 to move toward relocation Monday night after a year of contentious debate. In the meantime, the resolution requires installation of a plaque that explains the mural is not a comprehensive representation of the city’s history and is the subject of controversy.
The mural was completed in 2012 and intended to commemorate the history of the region, starting with Samuel de Champlain’s “discovery” of the area. But the lack of inclusion of the Abenaki tribe that inhabited the area long before Champlain arrived and people of color who have inhabited it since have led to complaints that the mural is racist and exclusionary.
In August, a task force established by the council recommended the Aug. 29, 2022, relocation deadline and the plaque explaining that the mural’s historical representation is not comprehensive. The 2022 date allows the city to live up to its agreement with the mural’s funders that it would remain in public view for 10 years.
The task force also recommended the city replace the current mural with a new one that shows the Queen City “as a diverse and welcoming place to live.”
The council gave Burlington City Arts a Jan. 9, 2019, deadline to provide an update about fundraising opportunities for a replacement mural and a list of relocation sites for the current mural to the Parks, Arts and Culture Committee.
Additionally, the council asked Burlington City Arts to explain how it incorporates best practices in commissioning public art that reflects the diversity of the city.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said that the placards, which are expected to be ready by March, are a good short-term solution to add context to the mural and that he supported the council’s decision.
“It puts us on a medium-term trajectory that has us fulfilling the original commitments made to the artists and supporters and puts us on a path to, as was originally planned, replace the image after its been up for a decade,” he said.
Councilors Ali Dieng, Max Tracy and Brian Pine voted against the motion. Dieng said that the resolution setting the deadline nearly four years out was “ignoring the cries of the marginalized people that live in this community.”
“When things are hurting people, we need to store it somewhere until we can figure out what we can do,” Dieng said. “We cannot leave it there forever.”
Councilor Dave Hartnett said he wasn’t sure he’d support relocation of the mural if it is not moved to a public place downtown and asked city attorney Eileen Blackwood if supporting the resolution meant that the mural was definitely coming down. Since the language of the resolution “sets the goal” of an August 2022 removal, it does not guarantee or require removal.
Hartnett said the mural was not inclusive, but he hopes it remains in the public eye as it is part of the city’s history.
“We talk about what’s up there now as a mistake and it’s wrong, and I don’t see that,” he said. “I see it as part of our history as well that has to be told.”
Pine said that the exclusion of people of color in the mural represents “a very subtle form of racism” and that the mural does not live up to its mission of celebrating the city’s history and uniting its people.
“I’ve concluded it should no longer adorn our public marketplace,” he said. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Dieng introduced a handful of amendments to the resolution. The council passed one amendment that edited the new placard to further explain that the mural “has become a highly public art controversy due to its lack of diversity. Burlington is a diverse community that strives to be a welcoming place to live, work, and visit and this mural is subject to relocation within the city of Burlington.”
But amendments introduced by Dieng to eliminate the 2022 date and to have the city’s Church Street Marketplace Department recommend other relocation sites by Nov. 26 did not pass.
Albert Petrarca, the activist who kick-started discussion about the mural when he spray-painted “OFF THE WALL” on the plague alongside the mural in October 2017, called for immediate removal of the mural at Monday’s meeting.
“Vermont is currently under a national scrutiny for being the butt of a “Saturday Night Live” skit about the state’s suffocating whiteness to the ultra-serious nature of the attacks on Bennington legislator Kiah Morris,” said Petrarca, who was charged with unlawful mischief after defacing the plaque. “So I don’t think you want to end up tonight as being one of the only major cities outside of Charlottesville [Virginia] that has decided to keep offensive and racist artwork and memorials in your town square.”
While a majority of those who have spoken to the council about the mural at recent meetings expressed opposition, others have defended the artwork. This included the mural’s artist, Pierre Hardy, who said he was not opposed to modification of the mural but that removal would be “a sad outcome.”
The issue will likely be back in front of City Council in January after Burlington City Arts prepares its report.
