The Levitt Shell, the historic public venue in Overton Park, was vandalized last night, Monday, August 31st. Messages like “eat the rich” were spray-painted on the venue, which has remained closed due to coronavirus concerns during what would be its usual summer and fall concert series schedule.
Natalie Wilson, executive director of the Levitt Shell, says it was a tough message to wake up to on 901 Day, when she had planned to use her resources to celebrate the city.
“I understand some of these messages. I can’t say I understand everything because that would be acting as if I can walk in everyone’s shoes. I can’t. However, I’m empathetic,” Wilson says. “As you read it all, it’s language of pain, it’s frustration. ‘End homelessness.’”
Wilson continues: “While I will not allow the Shell to be used as a platform — we’re for everyone — I want the Shell to be a part of the conversation that has to happen. The conversation about how communication can start the process of healing. We need to start that dialogue in a much stronger way, and I believe the Shell can be a part of that.”
“What is wellness? That doesn’t just mean health,” she says, citing emotional health, psychological health, and civic responsibility as vital to both a person’s and a city’s overall health. “We are a public gathering space that has a responsibility to that. We have a deeper responsibility, and we did when we were built in 1936. Our responsibility was to build morale, to bring our city back from the Great Depression.”
The venue’s executive director reminds the Shell’s supporters that, as with all venues for performing arts, the Shell has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. “This is the most devastating year of our history. Tonight we were going to be lighting the Shell red as a reminder that we need help. This is a red alert time.”
So what will they do about the graffiti? Wilson says they can’t just slap up a new coat of paint. “Here’s the tricky thing with a historic landmark,” she says. “We have to be very careful in the way we do it.”
The vandalism is a potentially expensive hurdle in a year that has, thus far, been filled with complications and hurdles. Still, Wilson remains hopeful for the venue’s future and aware of its responsibility to the community it serves. “We’re hopeful to come back in ’21,” she says, adding: “If the public wants to provide me feedback, guidance, I’m a public servant.”
