Tears flowed after Chaska Norwood learned Sunday morning her mural, which she commissioned an artist to paint behind her Oak Cliff business, was ruined.
She has run GypsyHouse out of a building her landlord has covered in artwork off North Tyler Street near Davis Street for the past four months. So, when she enclosed the back patio of her shop, she wanted to create something unique for customers and community to enjoy, as well.
"I have an artist friend who I commissioned to do this artwork, and I really let him take off with just things that I love," Norwood said.
The mural, which was not yet complete, included an artistic version of Norwood in her favorite sunglasses, the skyline of downtown Dallas and a chandelier, which her shop is known for selling.
"We really wanted to do something creative other than just doing GypsyHouse or just making it like a normal billboard. We wanted to really go with the eclectic style of Oak Cliff," Norwood said. "There's so many murals and Seventh Street is known for murals, so I just want to add to that instead of just doing the same old same nothing."
Sunday morning, Norwood learned the mural was destroyed. It appears vandals, armed with red, white and blue paint, targeted all three sections of the mural. She doesn't know why.
"It hurt my feelings that somebody either disregarded the art or just felt that this was a funny act or whatever it was that they did. They've ruined an artist's work, they ruined a part of my business, they vandalized it. It hurt my feelings," Norwood said.
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However, she plans to turn a negative into a positive by restoring and reinventing the mural in the future.
She has received offers from artists to help, but plans to hold an event Friday, July 15 to raise awareness and funds.
Information on the event can be found here.
