GIG HARBOR, Wash. — A mural on the side of a Gig Harbor art studio showing support for Ukraine was vandalized just a day after it was finished on Wednesday night.
The mural, created by local artist and Hart Studio owner Hillarie Isackson, was inspired by a number of other murals being painted around the world showing support for the eastern European country facing an invasion from Russia.
“I came up with the idea Monday morning. I'm like, ‘I have to do this. Why am I not doing this?’ So I have the perfect wall for it,” Isackson said, adding that within hours she had the support the building’s owner and the neighboring businesses.
She prepped and was able to finish the mural Tuesday evening.
Then, Isackson said she woke up Thursday morning to news from her sister that the mural had been vandalized. Isackson said the vandals were caught on camera wearing black hoodies and masks just before midnight on Wednesday.
“I sat with it for about an hour trying to think, ‘OK, what am I feeling about this? I'm kind of upset. I'm a little scared. I'm nervous.’ Why was this so controversial in our town that someone could do something like this,” she explained.
However, the Gig Harbor community immediately rallied behind Isackson and helped her as she started on a new mural, one that actually incorporated the red paint the vandals used.
“I mean, the amount of support in the community to get this going again has just been astronomical,” she said, adding that some offered help by providing supplies and others stepped in to help paint the new mural.
Isackson and some helpers worked through the night Thursday on the new mural, which adds the line of text: “Love will prevail.”
“If I was just to let somebody paint over it and then take it down completely, it would completely remove the message that I'm trying to make,” Isackson said. “I think that's the main message here. That no matter what, during all of this, you're always going to have opposition to whatever message you're trying to put out, and you just have to keep putting it out there. You can't just give up because somebody's trying to destroy your message.”
The Gig Harbor Police Department is seeking the public’s help in finding the vandals that destroyed Isackson’s original mural, asking anyone with information to call 253-851-2236.