RED HOOK – A controversial 24-year-old mural on the side of a building in the village of Red Hook has been painted over by the building’s owner.
The mural, depicting a female Dutch farmer harvesting apples, had darkened over time according to the artist, Gloria De Pietro.
Eloise Maxey, president of the Northern Dutchess NAACP had written to the village mayor and town supervisor asking that the mural be removed because it was the belief that it depicted an African slave harvesting a field of crops. “I am asking you to remove the mural in honor of Juneteenth and set free the people of color and others who are constantly reminded of a painful time. Please replace it with something inclusive because there are many nationalities in Red Hook.” The original article can be found here.
This past weekend, Todd Baright, local businessman and owner of the building where the mural resided, painted over the art. Baright said that in the fall of 2019 he contacted Historic Red Hook, asking them to photograph the mural for historic preservation because he planned to paint over the art to make way for something new. “I wanted a blank canvas for something new and fresh,” said Baright.
The businessman and longtime member of the community told Mid Hudson News that he confirmed with Historic Red Hook that the art had been preserved through photographs before painting over the mural. “I was planning to paint over the mural in the spring but then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which put the plans on hold until now.”
The artist’s daughter, Guiliana De Pietro, lashed out on social media Sunday, denouncing the covering of the mural. The younger De Pietro claims that the mural was defaced by vandals, saying that it was “destruction” and those that did it were “trash.” In the post, the artist’s daughter claims that a meeting was planned for Monday, June 22, to discuss re-drawing and re-designing it but the meeting is no longer taking place.
