West Seattle Blog… | WEST SEATTLE ART: Businesses battle over 35th/Henderson mural

(WSB photo, July)

This is what the mural on the north wall of the commercial building at 35th / Henderson looked like when we reported on it in July. This is how it looks now:

Part of it was painted over, part of it was changed. All of this has its roots in a dispute between neighbors – the Bird house Café that commissioned the mural, and CoCo and Co. Salon that completed and painted over part of it. We’ve spoken to both of them for the past few hours after Birdhouse contacted us about the situation today, followed by tips / questions from multiple readers.

If you are unfamiliar with the building, note that the Henderson wall with the mural is next to the drawing room facing the 35th floor, while Birdhouse looks at Henderson, west of the section of the building that contains the mural. Here’s a broader perspective from Google Maps Street View:

Both companies are tenants. Both said the cafe spoke to the salon and the owner of the building prior to the mural project – which Birdhouse called its “love letter to the neighborhood” – and the salon had no objection until it was painted in July. For the next three months the argument smoldered. The salon says the noticeable feature of the mural created the impression, among other things, that the cafe was the only tenant. In an email to the Birdhouse and the builder three weeks ago, the salon wrote: “We continue to have customers who believe we have been moved, closed or downsized, which is unacceptable to us.” So the salon on this E -Mail a compromise stating that the mural could remain if some elements were removed, including “the two (2) black birds, the coffee cup, the color red (sun / moon?) And the name ‘fre- man ‘from the license plate of the delivery truck. “(This is the company name of the Birdhouse owners.)

The cafe didn’t respond; They told us the builders advised them not to. The salon sent an email from the building owners in mid-August suggesting the two parties to sort this out – “we can’t choose either of you”. The parlor set a deadline for a reply last Thursday, otherwise it would repaint the wall. Still no answer, so the salon made some changes to the mural earlier this week: “Our intent in updating the mural was to add inclusivity and remove specific branding. (We added) BLM. RGB. Rainbow feathers so the bird was no longer the Birdhouse logo. Trans symbols. First responder. “

After that, the salon says, they were threatened and their surveillance cameras were broken. A report was made to the police. They blame the cafe that told us they are taking responsibility for the cameras. As a result, the salon then decided that “the mural wasn’t worth the effort” and began painting over part of it today. The birdhouse reported this to the police.

So what now? The salon says, “We will work on a solution for the current situation.” After a phone call tonight, the cafe hadn’t planned any further action.

–Tracy Record, WSB editor