A 10-foot-tall sculpture of a seated Black woman by US-based artist, Tschabalala Self, was spray-painted white by vandals in England last week.
The vandalism took place on May 15, with the perpetrator covering the figure’s skin with white spray paint, and followed other destructive acts at the pavilion, including the smashing of glass panels on the stairway to the promenade, according to the BBC.
The work titled, Seated, depicts a 10-foot-tall Black woman in a yellow dress and matching boots and sunhat, and was commissioned by the company Avant Arte and produced by the Madrid-based studio Factum Arte. First appeared near King’s Cross in London last year and is now being exhibited by the De la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, a town on the coast of East Sussex.
After its vandalism, over 200 people from the community in Bexhill-on-Sea banded together to clean the work and return it to its original state.
De La Warr is accepting donations for the sculpture’s professional conservation online, by text, by mail, and in-person at its gallery and box office. Seated is set to go back on view to the public in Bexhill-on-Sea starting on June 3 following a restoration.