‘Faces of Hope’ interactive mural comes down after two months
Sandee Langley snapped photos and shot video as multi-colored letters spelling out the word “hope” were removed from the side of the historic Sonora Inn on Thursday.
Langley said the interactive mural, a project of Tuolumne County Arts, reminded her to keep moving forward even on days when she was struggling with grief over the death of her son to suicide in 2017.
“When you have hope, it gives you light, and you can get through that dark tunnel,” she said.
The installation dubbed “Faces of Hope” was the brainchild of Tommy Moraitis, president of Tuolumne County Arts, who rents space in Sonora Inn’s Crystal Room for his husband’s catering business.
Moraitis put the piece up on the inn’s wall facing Stockton Road in mid-may and took it down on Thursday at the request of the City of Sonora and the inn’s owners.
“We just planned to have it up for a month and then COVID didn’t stop,” he said. “Who ever thought it would get larger and larger, so I thought it should stay up longer.”
Though the idea for the piece was Moraitis’, a number of artists who are part of Tuolumne County Arts contributed to its creation.
The letters were made out of discarded plastic, bottle caps and jar lids. People could submit photos and quotes to Moraitis, who would turn them into buttons and fasten them in the letters.
Moraitis didn’t know exactly how many buttons they added to the piece over the past two-plus months, but there appeared to be at least 100.
“The biggest fan of this is me,” he said. “I needed the most hope.”
The way the pandemic has upended the lives of so many people was what inspired Moraitis to propose the installation, but he and his husband have also been deeply affected.
Moraitis said they are planning to move out of the inn next
month because his husband’s business, Chef Dave Cooks, has been hit hard by cancellations of events they were booked to cater.
His husband, Dave Ingram, has been working for about a month grilling meat at a local grocery store to help them survive.
“It was his dream of opening a kitchen,” Moraitis said. “Chef Dave Cooks was finally getting on its feet, we were hosting community dinners, then all of that stopped.”
They opened Chef Dave Cooks at the inn more than a year ago and had recently added a soup kitchen for people who needed help during the pandemic.
The kitchen has provided more than 2,800 servings of gourmet soup for free to organizations who work with people who are homeless or have a limited income.
Moraitis said they are planning to find another location for the soup kitchen, in addition to the “Faces of Hope” art installation.
“We are never without hope, even though it’s leaving the Sonora Inn,” he said.
Jeff Michels, one of the inn’s owners, said they had a meeting with the city on a separate matter when the art installation was discussed because it never went through the required permitting process.
Michels said they supported the installation’s message and having it on the side of their building, but it was always intended to be temporary.
“The city just told me that because it’s an art installation and temporary that it’s kind of come to an end and run its course,” he said.
The installation would be subject to the city’s sign ordinance if it were to become permanent and likely wouldn’t qualify, though the city is not enforcing the ordinance because of the pandemic.
Rachelle Kellogg, the city’s community development director, said City Administrator Mary Rose Rutikanga had received some complaints from people about the installation.
Rutikanga could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Several people gathered to watch the installation being removed and wrote messages of gratitude for the creators on a printed photo of the piece.
Howard White, a consultant who helps local businesses, said he was sad to see the installation being taken down because he believes such a publicly visible art piece was good for the town’s image.
“This inspired people to have hope,” he said. “Without art and pieces like this, life can become boring.”