In the month since his prominent mural representing immigrant communities was defaced with white paint, Bay Area artist Mokhtar Paki has been making progress on restoration with support from the city and the community.
Paki said he has entered the last two stages of painting the mural — repainting and adding a protective layer — though dots of white paint remain scattered on the vandalized area.
“The other problem that I had to deal with was the damages to the stucco surface underneath of the mural’s painting, for that we needed to do more than just repainting,” Paki said via Instagram direct messages. “It needed patching, gluing, sanding and then using gesso before repainting.”
Donors to Paki’s GoFundMe raised $14,541 for his restoration efforts, more than $500 past its goal amount. 184 total donations were made to the fundraiser, which has since closed.
The city, which allotted $10,000 for the mural’s construction in 2021, has provided further support. Berkeley’s Civic Arts Division has approved $1,000 in emergency funds for the mural’s restoration.
“The way that our public art funds are traditionally broken out is 70% for projects, 20% for administration, and 10% for conservation,” said Carianna Arredondo, commission secretary in the Civic Arts Division. “So, based on those guidelines, we were able to authorize a one-time $1,000 grant.”
Additionally, District 4 Councilmember Igor Tregub is bringing an item to next Tuesday’s city council meeting that, if approved, would invite councilmembers to donate funds to Paki’s mural restoration from their discretionary accounts.
According to the item, Tregub plans to contribute $500, District 2 Councilmember Terry Taplin $250 and Mayor Adena Ishii and District 3 Councilmember Ben Bartlett $100 each.
“I also see this as an opportunity for the City to demonstrate that when public art is damaged, particularly a work that has such deep meaning for the community, we will work with the artist and community to help restore it,” Tregub said in an email.
Although the mural is located on private property, city staff worked with the property manager to secure permission for the mural to stay up for at least two more years, as a courtesy to Paki.
Paki said the funding will cover the cost of labor and equipment needed for the restoration process. According to him, labor fees account for more than two-thirds of the total cost, with parts of the budget also going toward specialized equipment for repairs.
“I personally put all my own projects and commitments aside to completely and fully work on the mural,” Paki said in an Instagram DM. “It is almost a month … that I spend every single day, between 8 to ten hours a day, sometimes with volunteers, assistants or with paid helpers (either working on the mural or spending time related to the restoration).”
According to Tregub, the Berkeley Police Department is still actively investigating the incident and has identified a similar incident involving white paint splattered on a nearby vehicle the same day. For his part, Paki is worried about the lack of a security camera onsite.
City officials said they are looking into how to further protect public art going forward.
“We’ve used protective coatings on other public art in Berkeley, which can make graffiti easier to remove, but every mural is different,” Ishii said in an email. “Nothing has been decided here yet. We just want to make sure Berkeley’s public art, and the stories behind it, are protected.”