Restore Divine and Bettie!
At 2 am on June 27th, 2021, some hateful people threw homemade paint bombs at our beloved mural that shines out onto I-5 from the side of our home.
The legendary pin-up/feminist pioneer Bettie Page was painted on our house by John Green in 2006. She stood proudly for a decade before some wayward "feminists" defaced her. We hired our extremely talented friend, Two Thangs (Mattholomew Brennan, IV) to restore her better than ever and, since his "thang" is pop culture pairs, we had him add another household favorite, the incomparable drag dinosaur, Divine. The ladies became fast friends and we were so proud to have such incredible and unique art on our house to share with the I-5 passersby. People tell us all the time that they love the painting and it makes us so happy to contribute to a sense of community that was once hallmark in Seattle but has been on the decline.
Apparently, not everyone feels that way. Whoever these people are, they chose Pride Month to deface these LGBTQ icons, and they stole our BLM sign to boot.
It just so happens that we had hired some painters to cover the rest of the house in a light blue (to compliment Divine's eye shadow and earrings). All Phase Painting showed up that morning as we were surveying the damage and sprung into action. They raced off and returned with supplies, spending the next 6 hours (in record-breaking heat, no less) with a pressure washer and paint thinner. Thanks to a sealant that Matt put on in 2016, they were able to remove nearly all of the oil-based red glop from the ladies. They will still need touch ups and for that, we turn to Matt, who currently resides on the east coast. We want to pay for his time, air fare, and supplies. We will also need to replace all the roof shingles on that side of the house as well as the trim. Home insurance should cover the roof and trim but consider this fund an investment in Matt's incredible work and a piece of local art.
Additionally, we plan to install more reliable security camera out there as our current one failed to capture the perps. We're still not sure how much everything will cost but we'll adjust the goal if need be. Everything that exceeds the fixed costs will go to Matt.
