A couple of days before Christmas, someone painted homophobic graffiti on the Rainbow Crosswalk in the ViBe Creative District.
The colors of the crosswalks where Cypress Avenue and 19th Street meet are meant to be pieces of art that show inclusivity for everyone.
Public works personnel toiled into the evening on Dec. 23 to wash away graffiti defacing all four crosswalks.
“We won’t leave that until it’s up,” Tyler Christopher, a traffic marking and signs technician, vowed as evening neared that day.
This week, public works personnel gathered at the crosswalk for a thank-you. They stood with city and community leaders on a chilly Monday morning, where gifts, remarks and cocoa were shared.
“It was graffiti but it was more than that,” Kate Pittman, executive director of the ViBe, said to the gathering. “It was a hateful crime against people who might be perceived as different than others.”
Councilmember Michael Berlucchi remembered how hundreds of people came to the intersection in 2016 to paint an original mural as a “beacon” to show that the city is a welcoming one. The crosswalks, which had been painted, were made permanent with thermoplastic pavers in 2021.
“For 10 years, this crosswalk stood here without interference,” Berlucchi said.
The benches, trees and posts surrounding the intersection held colorful yarn art Monday. Artist Isabella Thompson of Williamsburg called it “yarn bombing.” Members of the Fiber Art Society, which she founded, made the pieces in response to the graffiti.
“Just to show that’s not Virginia Beach,” Thompson said. “That’s not Virginia. … Virginia is for lovers, for all lovers.”
Jamar Davis, president of Hampton Roads Pride, spoke about the crosswalk during remarks.
“It reflects love, visibility, peace, unity,” he said. “So I just want to appreciate everyone here.”
Damanion Brown is a traffic maintenance supervisor and responded on Dec. 23. He said the gesture of thanks wasn’t expected but is appreciated.
“It was a drop-dead emergency,” Brown recalled Monday.
“You know, in a case like this, we couldn’t come back the next day. We had to act on it and get everything cleaned up.”
