Is a stretch of sidewalk painted the colors of the rainbow graffiti or art?
To Richard Moody, an Uptown resident and longtime local producer, fashion designer and artist — it’s art.
During his travels across the world while working as a flight attendant, Moody was inspired by rainbow sidewalks he saw in places like Amsterdam, Iceland, Paris and South Africa. Last year, he had a local artist paint the panels of the sidewalk in front of his Minneapolis East Isles neighborhood home orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
But last month, Moody learned a neighbor filed a complaint with the city, claiming the sidewalk was graffiti. Soon after this, the city had the stretch of rainbow sidewalk mostly stripped. The blue and purple segments remain mostly intact with paint strips littering the gardens around the stretch.
“They started stripping it one month ago and have not finished it. Now this looks like graffiti,” he said, gesturing to the remaining painted blocks.
Moody is openly gay, but he said the sidewalk was never about that. It was about adding color and brightness to the neighborhood. People would take photos of their kids doing somersaults on the rainbow sidewalk, he said. The same kids would point to a panel and say, “This is my favorite color.”
“It was just a cute sidewalk,” Moody said.
After the sidewalk was stripped, Moody started a petition to bring it back, which garnered more than 100 signatures. Moody learned recently, however, that the petition isn’t necessary. Rather, he needs to go through multiple steps with the city to have the rainbow paint classified as art and approved for a permit. If approved, he would also need to leave some blank spots on the sidewalk to ensure a slip-free surface, he said.
Related | Remembering Q Monthly, Equal Time and other Twin Cities media that put LGBTQ+ communities front and center
Moody hired local painter Angela Davis to paint the sidewalk. While some have said the paint could be slippery when wet, causing a safety hazard, he said Davis specifically worked with paints that would not cause this problem.
While Moody waits to go through the city’s process, Davis has painted other parts of his property including three stone staircases, one leading to his ground-level airbnb, and two up to his gardens. Moody will add color wherever he can to his property at the corner of West 28th Street and Humboldt Avenue South. In addition to the many flights of rainbow steps, people might recognize the house for its large purple rocking chair out front. The chair is his niece’s, Moody says with a grin.
Many pass by Moody’s home throughout the day, whether they’re on their way to walk around the Lake of the Isles or heading out to Hennepin Avenue. The current construction also brings more eyes to the property as cars are diverted. The corner lot serves as the bus stop for Kenwood Elementary School. Kids like to hang out by the rainbow, Moody said. The spot is also next door to a 55 years old and up housing facility.
“You know, it touches them that it brings beauty and that was the whole point of the sidewalk – beauty,” Moody said. “It was a blank sidewalk and now that the paint is gone you can see how blank a sidewalk really is.”
Moody has invested deeply in his neighborhood, said neighbor Steve Havig. Havig hopes to see his sidewalk project continue. To him, it’s an extension of Moody’s mission to connect people through art. Moody also works on art shows and community events at Grace Trinity Church, where he is deeply involved.
“He is bringing the neighborhood together, and in the time when neighborhood people do not know their neighbors,” Havig said.
The process
Moody is working with the Minneapolis Arts and Cultural Affairs Department to determine next steps to get the sidewalk painted rainbow again.
A permit is needed to create public art in the city’s “right of way,” which includes city sidewalks, boulevards and streets, said Public Arts Supervisor Mary Altman. Permits like this are often done through “paint the pavement projects.”
Moody’s sidewalk is rare because he is looking to garner a permit as an individual property owner. Usually projects like this are done through a nonprofit, neighborhood organization or government entity, Altman said. The guidelines require the permit holder to be one of these entities.
“We don’t normally give permits for public art to individuals, but it’s very common for an individual to get one of those groups to be a permit holder.,” Altman said. “It’s also a good collaboration because there are some other requirements, including liability insurance.”
Community engagement is also a requirement for a paint the pavement project. An artist also must be involved and paid.
As to the question of if the segment counts as graffiti, Altman said graffiti is generally considered something that is not allowed by the property owner. In this case the property owner is the city. But Altman still considers this particular case art rather than graffiti.
“I would say, in my opinion, this is not graffiti. This was unpermitted art. An artist painted it. But whoever called and made the complaint probably didn’t know that,” she said.
Winter Keefer
Winter Keefer is MinnPost’s Metro reporter. Follow her on Twitter or email her at wkeefer@minnpost.com.
