PITTSBURGH — The Frick Museum in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood wants a wrong act made right after having social justice signs and banners vandalized.
“It’s pretty clear that this is a kind of a hate crime,” responded Director Elizabeth Barker.
The Penn Avenue display was put up last year in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and updated earlier this year, before being targeted by a vandal first on November 7, according to Barker.
“Someone who opposes Black Lives Matter, I believe is saying, ‘Black lives don’t matter,’ and that’s a really terrible and unacceptable thing to say,” she said.
Barker described the vandalism, saying the signs were slashed and cut up.
She said they were fixed and re-hung before being targeted again on November 17.
“The first time we went around and thought maybe it was a prank — hard to understand — but we taped them,” said Barker. “Second time, we put them back with a lot more emphasis, realizing this was no accident.”
After that, The Frick re-located the signs further back on its property. But that didn’t stop another attack just this Friday, where one person was caught on video surveillance.
“It was surprising and really profoundly disappointing for us that someone actually trespassed on our campus to reach these,” said Barker.
The banners, initially displayed as part of an ongoing campaign at the museum to foster unity and inclusivity, now have the opposite effect.
“We want everyone who might benefit from what we have to offer to feel respected and truly welcomed at The Frick,” said Barker.
Administrators at The Frick are not sure if the same person is responsible for all three incidents and said they’ll leave that to the police. They’ve turned over all the surveillance video they have to investigators.