BLOOMINGTON – Jonatan Espinoza and Aracely Sevilla, political refugees from Nicaragua living in Bloomington, are painting a 57-foot-wide and 18-foot-high mural on a building wall facing Peoples Park on Kirkwood Avenue.
But just a few days into the monthlong art project, the colorful mural on the side of the former Bicycle Garage at 507 E. Kirkwood Ave. has come under threat from people who vow to deface it.
Not because the mural celebrates Indiana University football’s first-ever national championship. The uproar arises instead from the painted-over message that’s been on the wall in tall pink letters since 2020: Black Lives Matter.
In the aftermath of the May 2020 George Floyd killing in Minneapolis, graffiti featuring those three words was painted over a 2017 Bloomington Arts Commission mural called “You Belong Here” which showcased the city’s natural and cultural amenities.
The city said the arts commission decided to leave the mural as it was, calling the graffiti “an unsanctioned but intentional act of public expression.” For six years, the merged-art mural remained.
Until this month, when building owner Crimson Investments LLC hired Espinoza to design and paint a mural depicting quarterback Fernando Mendoza and IU’s historic football season.
His project assistant wife fills paint trays and mixes colors on the ground, handing it up to Espinoza on a scaffold.
As soon as Espinoza began covering the previous mural with white paint to create a clean canvas, the mayor and other city officials started hearing from people aghast and upset about the situation.
The uproar was such that on April 20, city communications director Desiree DeMolina issued a statement informing citizens the building is privately owned and letting them know the owner controls the wall facing the city’s one-third-acre urban park near IU’s Sample Gates.
The city has no say in the selection of mural art.
“The City of Bloomington is aware of community concern regarding the recent removal and replacement of the Black Lives Matter mural located on the building wall adjacent to People’s Park,” the city release states. “While the mural has long been associated with Peoples Park because of its location and visibility from the public space, the wall itself is privately owned.”
When the building recently sold and the Bicycle Garage moved to South Morton Street, the new owners decided to spruce up the park-side façade. No one from Crimson Investments LLC could be reached for comment.
“As the property owner, the new owner has the right to decide on the use and appearance of the wall, including whether to maintain, replace, or repaint a mural,” DeMolina’s statement said.
The artist has continued his work amid questions, angry stares and harsh words from passersby.
Bloomington muralist Travis Simpson is assisting with the project. He’s known Espinoza and Sevilla since they arrived in town two years ago, taught them English, helped promote Espinoza’s art career and arranged a gallery showing.
Around noon April 21, he said 20 people already that day had stopped to ask questions or criticize the project.
“Some of them thought we or the city were covering up the message. I realize the sensitivity to this, but people don’t know the whole story,” Simpson said.
He said his safety has been threatened online, where there are posts from people promising to tag and deface the mural with spray paint once it’s finished.
Simpson said the building owner may invest in an expensive clear coating to protect the giant work of art at Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street.
He described Espinoza as an artist forced out of Nicaragua amid fears for his safety because of art contracts with the U.S. and said he, his wife and two children cannot safely return.
“He is supporting his family with his painting and the new building owner reached out and wanted to collaborate on this project,” Simpson said. “The owners, being from out of town, maybe they didn’t realize the history here. But murals, they aren’t meant to last forever.”
DeMolina’s statement said the city is committed to supporting public art and community expression that “reflect Bloomington’s values of belonging, dignity, and shared civic life” and will “continue to look for opportunities to work with artists, property owners, residents, and community partners to support meaningful public art throughout Bloomington.”
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU football mural replaces Black Lives Matter mural in Bloomington
Reporting by Laura Lane, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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