KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - San Antonio artist Colton Valentine, who painted downtown’s Dolly Parton mural in Strong Alley, used to paint graffiti against the will of whatever city he was in.
“I’m kind of used to painting something (that ends up) being completely gone in a month or less,” he said.
So, when he found out that the Dolly mural recently was defaced with black paint over her mouth, his feelings weren’t hurt.
“I’m not really tripping,” he told Knox News.
After all, the mural will be restored, improved and expanded by a local artist immediately, and an anti-graffiti coating will be added to try to keep this from happening again.
People ‘heartbroken’ over graffiti
The mural is located in Strong Alley, just off Market Square. The alley is covered in murals from local artists who are pretty much allowed to express themselves freely.
Dogwood Arts has an agreement with the city to manage the space.
“We actively seek new artists to do work in the space,” Dogwood Arts Executive Director Sherry Jenkins said. “When things get tagged or deformed like Dolly has, we decide if we need to get a new piece in the space. … Dolly was so positive and so popular that we immediately reached out to the artist who did Dolly.”
Valentine heard all about the mural being defaced from Knoxvillians contacting him on Instagram. Four other Strong Alley murals also were impacted, according to a news release from Dogwood Arts.
“I’ve been getting messages ever since it happened,” Valentine said. “One to two to three a day.”
People have told him they are “heartbroken.” He’s not sure when the mural was defaced, but Jenkins said the city found out over the weekend.
“I don’t really have the means of getting out there right now,” he said.
‘I wish it was better’
Valentine painted the mural about a year ago while he was in town for work.
“When I painted originally, I got some backlash - not-so-good comments from artists,” he said.
Most of that had to do with the fact he painted over someone else’s work.
“I know there was some hate behind me painting that,” he said. “Some people in the city did not like what I did.”
But people seem to love the mural now, taking pictures with it daily.
Truth be told, Valentine said, he wasn’t even finished with it. He only spent about a third of the time he normally would spend on a similar mural.
“It sucks - the city loves it so much I wish it was better,” he said.
Now, although circumstances aren’t ideal, the mural will be improved with a little help from a local.
‘Evoke the spirit of Parton’
Valentine descried the black paint over Dolly as “Gothic lips.” They used to be bright red.
The lips will be fixed, courtesy of local artist Megan Lingerfelt. Dogwood Arts asked her to do it, but Valentine also had her in mind.
The two connected over the mural a while back and will collaborate on the restoration.
Dogwood will provide funding through a mural program. The work will include new lips, earrings and “maybe even a butterfly or two,” according to a Dogwood release.
The hope is to “evoke the spirit of Parton herself,” the release said.
‘That’s the nature of the beast’
Dogwood is calling the black graffiti an “unfortunate act of vandalism.” The alley is made up of the walls of businesses, which have agreed to allow painting there.
“They weren’t trying to create anything,” Jenkins said about the vandal. “They were really just trying to disfigure the art.”
Restoration should take about two weeks.
“Many businesses want murals to draw attention, to support local artists, but also to combat graffiti,” Lingerfelt said in the release. “When (Valentine) painted Dolly he covered a really awesome piece; that’s the nature of the beast.”
The Dolly mural wasn’t commissioned so, in a way, it was also graffiti, she said.
“However there is a huge difference between an artist creating something for a neighborhood to enjoy rather than destroying it,” she said.
Lingerfelt believes there’s no real way to stop people from tagging. After all, the space is known as “Graffiti Alley.”
“You can prepare for it with specialized coatings, be ready to repair it, and hope for the best,” she said.
A plan to ‘get her taken care of’
Lingerfelt has worked with Dogwood Arts and the city on various downtown projects in recent years. She has even completed multiple murals in Strong Alley.
Valentine has garnered more than 13,000 Instagram followers for his murals, many of which portray famous rappers like 21 Savage and Cardi B.
“As of lately, ever since I painted that (Dolly) painting out there and other paintings as well, I’ve been continually climbing up,” he said.
Jenkins said it can be difficult to protect the art in Strong Alley while also giving people the opportunity to work there. Her hope is that inspired artists will get excited about working in the space and then contact Dogwood about actually doing it.
Dogwood is able to pay artists for materials to take away the physical costs for muralists.
While Jenkins is “amazed” the Dolly mural went untouched for so long, there’s no denying people are upset about what happened.
“The good news is we’ve got a plan to get her taken care of,” she said.
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