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A mural depicting pigs in police hats on the side of a Quadra Street bakery has raised the ire of people who work in the neighbourhood just blocks from the Victoria police station.
Linda Gordon, a B.C. government employee, said she complained to Wildfire Bakery last week about the mural, which also shows people handcuffed by the Olympic rings with Uncle Sam looming in the background.
"I believe in free speech," Gordon said. "They're commenting on a number of things in that mural, and I appreciate that.
"But I didn't see the necessity for using a caricature that put the police as pigs and with iron crosses on their chests and having them whipping and shooting their guns off. I just thought it was despicable."
Gordon, who said a number of her colleagues were also upset by the mural, questioned why the bakery would allow the mural to remain. The business, she said, is located "right smack in the middle of an area that does rely on the support of the police."
But bakery owner Erika Heyrman said the frequently changing murals have nothing to do with her or her business. She said the "free walls" on the building have long been opened up to local graffiti artists, who generally paint when the bakery is closed.
"That mural, I didn't see it go up," Heyrman said. "I didn't really even notice it for the first days, and I just support a venue. I mean, it doesn't offend me what's up there personally. Not a lot does offend me."
Victoria police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton said the department has received no comments on the mural from officers or the public.
"It's more a question for the owner of the Wildfire Bakery," he said. "I would hope that the staff and the owner there -- that's not their personal reflection of how they feel about authority and police in general."
But he said the message in the mural is nothing new for police. "We get our fair share of abuse, that's for sure."
Heyrman said the bakery has received just one complaint about the mural so far, and rarely experiences a backlash against other murals.
"On the rare occasion something that might be slightly questionable or offensive might go up," she said.
"But what I find happens on these walls is that other painters will come and deal with it before it even becomes an issue."
Victoria artist Peter Allen said a friend painted the controversial mural, but was unavailable for comment yesterday afternoon. Allen said graffiti artists have been using the walls of the Wildfire Bakery since 1996.
"It's always been a freedom of expression place -- that being one of the main parts about graffiti," he said.
A core group of about 10 artists paint there, and the murals rotate every month to two months. "Some people get angry and come and paint over stuff they don't like and that's part of the process, too," Allen said.
Of the current mural, Allen said: "Personally, it's one of my favourites. Because it just cuts straight to the point of a lot of issues."
lkines@tc.canwest.com
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