Residents and the artist are shaken as a peaceful sidewalk art installation in Milwaukee gets targeted by repeated vandalism, including the use of an anti-gay slur. East Side resident Dana Alexander Kaleta told CBS 58, “Someone’s clearly hurting. Someone really has a lot of anger, and that’s kind of what we don’t need right now.” Kaleta was standing near a sidewalk mural featuring three koi fish painted by gay artist Jeremy Novy when she noticed the artwork had been defaced for a second time in just days. The koi, painted in black, orange, and white with Novy’s signature 3D shadow effect, were originally created to bring joy to the neighborhood. After the artwork was first covered in black paint, Novy repainted the fish over the weekend. But within a day, the mural was vandalized again with fluorescent green paint and a gay slur spray-painted beside it. The artist said he and the homeowner are now exploring ways to protect the public artwork from future attacks.
