‘We will keep rising.' Benicia’s vandalized LGBTQ+ public art will be repainted

Vicki Marchand arrived at her gallery on First St. Thursday morning to find that the public mural representing diversity and pride had been vandalized for a second time since it was installed in June. She and the artist are resolved and determined to repaint. 

“We’re not going to be shaken. We will keep rising, and it’s coming back. Together we rise,” Marchand told The Benicia Bridge. 

“Together We Rise,” is the name of the large mural completed by Bay Area muralists on the alley-side of Marchand’s building that contains gallery NY2CA on First St. The large-scale art includes the work of 13 local artists who volunteered their time to paint in feathers of a rising phoenix. 

Only the pride feather has been defaced. Artist Wendy Buresh already repainted the portion of the mural after the feather was defaced in early to mid-July. She will paint it again. 

In the most recent version, the words “hope,” “belonging,” “kindness,” “inclusion,” “diversity,” “equity,” “love,” “peace,” “acceptance,” and “better together” were written over a rainbow of colors, including the blue, pink and white representing the Transgender Pride Flag. 

Around midnight on Thursday, those words were covered with red spray paint. 

“The person who has done the damage to the mural has been very careful not to touch anybody else's work,” Marchand said. “For whatever reason they're targeting [this section of the mural], it's intentional.” 

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Police are investigating mural vandalism

The Benicia Police Department is actively investigating the vandalism and has not determined whether it is a hate crime.

The California Department of Justice describes a hate crime as “a crime against a person, group, or property motivated by the victim's real or perceived protected social group.” 

Officers were called to the scene Thursday at 11 a.m. and took a report. Marchand shared security video footage with officers that shows a car driving into the alley and a person approaching the mural. 

“There are no other reported instances of vandalism targeting the LGBTQ community, and we take such incidents very seriously,” Public Information Officer Wendy Stratton Monahan told The Benicia Bridge. “At this time, we have not identified a definitive motive or suspect.” 

Marchand said she wants an arrest and will support criminal charges. 

“This is unacceptable in Benicia. People need to understand that public art is taken seriously in California and the artists in Benicia take it very seriously, as does the community,” she said. 

“The community is extremely upset. I have had four people approach me that are parents of trans children, and they are just so disappointed, but also angry that there is someone that just can't look or walk away if they don't like something.” 

She said she wants to talk to the person responsible for the red spray paint. To her, the color red means power. She also sees this act as a “call for help.” 

“I think the person is trying to show that they have some power or some strength,” Marchand said. “I really would love to have a conversation with this person, to kind of say, ‘How can we help you? What can we do so that you have some hope because it seems like it’s gone.’” 

Despite the act of one person, Marchand said, “this mural is very loved and endeared by so much of the community."

Read more about the mural in our archive: Benicia Art: A Phoenix rises on First Street in new mural