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Rachel Gladstone urges short deferral of council bill to give artists time on threatened mural
Summary
Resident Rachel Gladstone told the committee BL 2026-14-23 could allow a developer to remove a 300–350-foot mural; she asked the council to delay the bill for three meetings so artists can pursue preservation or repurposing and cited the Visual Artists Rights Act.
Rachel Gladstone, a resident of The Nations, told the committee she opposes BL 2026-14-23 because the bill’s new site plan omits protections for a 300–350-foot mural on a corrugated-metal building and would allow a future property owner to remove the work once the developer owns the parcel.
Gladstone said the artist sent a certified demand letter to the developer invoking the federal Visual Artists Rights Act and that the developer had not responded as of her remarks. She asked the council to defer the bill for three meetings — giving artists and the community “a meaningful opportunity” to explore options to preserve or repurpose the mural. “We respectfully ask you to defer this bill for a brief period of 3 meetings so the artists and the community have a meaningful opportunity [to preserve and repurpose this iconic 350 foot mural],” she said.
The speaker said the mural was nationally recognized and that the new site plan omitted any reference to the artwork, which she argued removes any community recourse to protect it once redevelopment occurs. The committee did not vote on BL 2026-14-23 during this meeting; Gladstone’s remarks were recorded during the public-comment portion and no committee response to her request was included in the transcript.
The next procedural step for BL 2026-14-23 was not recorded in this committee transcript.
