Contractor paints over mural; artist not told
Property owner calls it a ‘ misunderstanding’
SUNNYVALE — It was a labor of love and self- expression, a colorful mural that Omar Garcia spent a month illustrating on the side of a Fair Oaks Avenue market. But because of a misunderstanding, Garcia’s vision was painted over recently, transforming a once vibrant wall into a blank gray canvas.
“What hurts me was the fact that ( the property owner) just said paint over it after telling me so many people liked my art, and now all of a sudden it’s gone,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the mural portrayed the story of a young man overcoming a diffi cult time in his life — a story not unlike his own. It was the self- taught artist’s largest work, taking up the entire side of the Quick Shop Market at 395 N. Fair Oaks Ave., and blended black- and- white work with color, combining comic- book and graffiti styles.
It disappeared when a contractor building nearby condominiums approached property owner Jatinder Bhangu and asked if he would like them to paint the front of the building and do some landscape work at no cost. Bhangu agreed.
“When I came back a week later, the mural was painted over,” Bhangu said. “I felt so bad, I told Omar I would be willing to pay him to do another one. It was all a misunderstanding.”
However, Loida Kirkley of SiliconSage Builders said the owner did give permission to paint over the mural. “We never knew it was art,” Kirkley said. “A couple of prospective buyers backed out because they thought it was graffiti. There was no note from the artist, and the owner permitted painting over the wall. No one ever gave me a warning. We did apologize to Omar.
“It’s our mission to always leave the community better than when we found it. I always make the point the families we put in our homes are happy with the environment.”
Kirkley suggested some possibilities for a new mural in an email exchange with Garcia.
“I hope you could paint a mural for us that depicts any of the following: nature ( like a tree bearing money instead of fruits), tropical island getaway viewed from a Mediterranean door, waterway ( with rocks, stones, cascading water), a steel door that is halfway open and you see smiling faces in the opening,” Kirkley wrote.
“The above are just a few examples of murals that would make the audience of your art feel the essence of neighborhood and community. Again, I would like to apologize for the inadvertent removal of your art.”
“I didn’t even want to hear that at all,” Garcia said about the email.
While it was about $ 700 and a month of work, the loss for Garcia goes far deeper than that. Painting the mural was a “personal journey” for him as he was working through a divorce and found solace in painting, he said.
The process of painting the mural also helped him reconnect with his old neighborhood. As it came together, several people stopped to ask him about it; some teens even asked him for his autograph.
“I think people have that mentality, that stigma” about graffi ti, Garcia said. “It’s unfortunate; people don’t really give it a shot or give it a thought. They just kind of make a judgment on things without giving it time to really think about what’s behind that piece, behind that art.”
Garcia retained respected art lawyer Brooke Oliver of San Francisco to explore his legal options, but is hoping to turn the experience into something positive.
“I believe things happen for a reason,” Garcia said. “In a way, I would love to do another mural there, or if not there, around there somewhere else.”