FIGHTING FOR GLORIA
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020
In 2018, I was made aware that Midwood Investment and Developers purchased the 12th Street Gym property where my mural “A Tribute to Gloria Casarez” resides. Midwood, Mural Arts Philadelphia, and I had a few conversations during this time with the commitment to stay in communication as development plans progressed so that we can find ways to preserve the Gloria mural and honor her legacy and her connection to the community.
My communication with Midwood became more frequent in June 2020 as they informed me and Mural Arts of their plans to demolish the building. The pending demolition would completely destroy the mural that was created with the participation of Gloria’s family, close friends, and the communities that she fought for. Gloria dedicated her life to advocating for people in our city affected by poverty, discrimination, and unjust laws. She fought for her communities to be heard, seen, and lifted. She challenged people in power to put the community first. She lost her life too soon to cancer and the mural was a representation of her light and spirit that remained as a beacon to shine on our city.
Gloria fought for us, so I fought for Gloria.
In the midst of the pending demolition, for five months, I worked with Mural Arts in communicating to Midwood the importance of Gloria’s legacy and presence as a woman of color, activist, and her important role in LGBTQ history. We spent five months creating a proposal so that Midwood would commit to maintaining the presence of Gloria Casarez on 12th as well as expanding the works to include narratives of BIPOC LGBTQ ancestors.
This proposal was not meant to replace the mural that was going to be destroyed by Midwood. The proposal was my way of picking up the pieces and creating something that would still retain the presence of Gloria and everything that she represented in her community, in the midst of gentrification.
After many conversations, Mural Arts (and I) entered in a letter of intent with Midwood stating their commitment to covering the full cost of our proposal. I would create the new public artworks and lead a community engagement process with the LBGTQ community all focused on honoring Gloria Casarez’s memory and legacy. The proposal also included honoring Black leader and abolitionist Henry Minton, who lived and worked at the same location of the mural.
In our conversations since June 2020, we spoke to Midwood about the possibility of preserving pieces of the mural if the process of demolition would continue. Today, Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020, I learned of the whitewashing of my mural. Mural Arts and I did not have any prior knowledge that Midwood was going to whitewash the mural. This action is painful for all of us who feel that we are losing Gloria again with the whitewashing and demolition of her image.
Midwood’s action has affected all the trust and work we have been building with the community so far. My values are not in alignment with their process. I am ceasing my agreement with Midwood and Mural Arts feels strongly that they can not go forward either. Mural Arts will be issuing their own statement.
I step away grateful to have had the chance to honor Gloria through my artwork.
Michelle Angela Ortiz
(On 12/23/2020, I projected the image of the mural back onto the whitewashed wall. I stand in solidarity with Gloria’s family and community advocates. )
