The destruction of a memorial painting paints a picture of gentrification in Five Points for the community behind it

Street art is often covered by other street art. Those are the rules.

But things are different for a memorial mural that was painted on a wall between 27th and 28th streets in Larimer on May 25 and defaced again two months later.

That’s according to a man who identifies himself as “Pines,” who made possible the creation of a mural in memory of his girlfriend Brea, also known as “Sovereign Status.”

Its disappearance was not a symptom of new art replacing old. It was a symptom of gentrification.

The city block where Brea calls her mural home is located in the area some call RiNo, or the River North Arts District. Others call it Five Points.

This distinction carries with it historical and political baggage.

Technically, RiNo is part of the historic and historically Black Five Points neighborhood. It received its name and designation as an arts district in 2005.

But for much of Denver’s black community and others who lived in the area before RiNo’s founding, the Five Points neighborhood was and remains.

Community members are angry about more than just the irony of an art bar defacing art

The wall the mural is painted on belongs to an upcoming “immersive art lounge” called Mockingbird. According to Pines, the business painted a large, black stripe through Brea’s memorial mural and added three of the bar’s logos.

“It was done with such disdain and lack of consideration,” Pines said.

His community feels the same way. In recent days, social media users have slammed Mockingbird, calling the move “ignorant” and “disrespectful,” along with even harsher names.

According to Pines, it is striking that the streets showed respect for the mural, created by local artist Lesho.

“The streets knew what was going on. That mural was not touched. Every other mural you see on this block can be written over, can be touched,” he said. “(But) that mural was left untouched.”

Pines is angry that his work has not been replaced by something meaningful, something with artistic value.

“If it had been done tastefully, with whatever mural or whatever they have to do on that wall, you probably wouldn’t have heard a peep from a lot of us,” he said, “because we know it can be a moving wall sometimes.”

But the haphazard covering up of this art, in honor of his late friend, has fueled tensions simmering just below the surface in one of the city’s most gentrified areas.

As the community in Brea mounted pressure, Mockingbird co-owner Robert Champion was confronted with the fire.

In a publicly streamed conversation, he met with Pines to discuss the damage done and reconciliation.

During the conversation, Pines thanked Champion for engaging with him and seeking a solution.

“I don’t believe you have malicious intent,” Pines said, but added: “I put a lot of stock in intent and impact.”

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

In a video posted to the Mockingbird account shortly after that conversation, Champion said, “I don’t know how I can ever say I’m sorry enough for the impact we’ve had by painting our logo over Brea’s memorial mural.”

“I claim to be completely ignorant of it, but I also claim to be completely responsible for it,” Champion said.

Pines later told Denverite that Champion kept repeating that “he felt like this was giving him a crash course in Denver politics” and the community surrounding his new company.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

“I don’t believe it’s my job to educate people who aren’t willing to do the research,” Pines said. “(But in this case) as far as my sister, my dear, dear, dear friend, and the gravity of how this happened, I feel like this (incident) has prompted me to speak up a little bit more.”

Pines says Brea was “incredibly community-minded, progressive and very outspoken.”

Her memorial mural will be repainted on Saturday, July 27.