Chinatown Mural Vandalized -- Artist Leland Wong Steamed

Leland Wong is not a happy artist right now

​Several months ago, Chinatown born-and-raised artist and photographer Leland Wong put the finishing touches on a mural depicting 100 real neighborhood kids. Yesterday, however, a vandal put the finishing touches on a series of ugly green-and-white tags blotting out eight to 10 of his kids.

Those miscreants have, literally, spoiled Wong's children. And, like any proud papa, he's angry.

He's also frustrated, because it's not as if he didn't take precautions. Wong coated his mural, located at 740 Washington Street across from Portsmouth Square, with polyurethane. He figured that would allow him to rub off any tags with a strong solvent. "But this paint, it's epoxy-based or something," says the artist. "It's pretty solid."



Wong's unique installation, part of the Art Commission's "Art in the Storefronts" program, features the actual portraits of 100 kids -- most of them from nearby schools, but many gleaned from historical photos of Chinatown. And in order to restore the spoiled children, he's just going to have to go to work and reinstall the ruined photographs. The artist estimates that will take him at least three or four days.

He also has a message for the person or persons who put him back to work: "Lay off my mural!"

H/T   |   Adriel Hampton
 

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