Mural artist of vandalized works speaks out

We sat down with Marcus Fetch, local muralist whose works were defaced on Tuesday evening.  He told us how he’s feeing and what’s next.

It’s been an eventful couple of days. How are you doing?

Yesterday morning when I first woke up to see what had happened, I was really sad. Also worried about what the people who owned those murals were thinking. But then throughout the day, just seeing the overwhelming amount of love and support was just mind-blowing. Today, I’m feeling loved and super-happy about Birmingham and all the people who support murals. It might actually be a blessing in disguise. I’m a problem solver too, so I’m like, “We’re gonna fix this!”

Marcus has a personal video message for Birmingham!

One of the top comments from our readers is the question of whether the murals can be restored. Is that a possibility?

They can be touched up and repainted, which is what we’re fundraising for. But we, myself and some other artists are working on how to make them bigger and better than before.

Any idea who may have done this?

I don’t have a beef with anyone, so I’m not really sure.  Police reports have been filed by the property owners and there is an active investigation underway.  I hope that whoever did this can be caught so they won’t do it again.  We will be adding a coating over future mural projects to protect them from any potential future damage.

What’s the background on the murals that were damaged?

Adam Eason, a really great guy, put up the money in 2016 to have the eyes mural painted on 1st AVE N.  When Padget (Pizitz) was looking to have a mural put up at Melt, he paid for the wings mural that was installed there.  Pye Parsons contributed funds towards the hot air balloon mural on the apartment building she co-owns with Alexis McBrayer.   Local folks rounded out the cost with a  Go-Fund-Me, so the community was highly involved.

What can folks do to help out?

Paget Pizitz, co-owner of Melt is having a fundraiser called “Bring Back Bham Murals.”  It will be next Thursday, January 25 at Melt in Avondale.  It is being sponsored by Monday Night Brewing, with free appetizers and lots of swag bags from local breweries. The money raised will be donated to Blank Space Bham to help us recreate the murals bigger and better!

There is also going to be a fundraiser through Create Birmingham.  The link for that is:

http://www.createbham.org/blankspacedonate

Anything else you’d like Birmingham to know?

I’d like to say that murals are really important to me and a lot of people in this city. It’s nice that this situation is bringing that to light.  I hope this will rally support throughout Birmingham to get more muralists in town.  I don’t want this to stop with just fixing these.  I want over the next year to sponsor lots of muralists coming into town.