SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – A long-standing mural honoring Robert E. Smith on the side of a building at Campbell and Walnut has been covered up, prompting community backlash against the building’s new owner.
David Pere, owner of FMTM LLC, purchased the building in downtown Springfield and said he intended it to reflect his business, which focuses on helping veterans with financial strategies and goals. Covering the mural was part of that plan.
Pere said he was out of town in Tennessee when painting began and learned about the community reaction through messages on his phone.
“I’m like, I was in Tennessee running an event. I didn’t even know he’d started painting until I got a bunch of really nasty messages on my phone,” Pere said. “And I go, oh, look, that’s our building getting painted. I guess he started.”
Pere said he did not anticipate the response. “You know, we didn’t. I didn’t know how much of an impact this was going to make,” he said.
Jesse Tyler, co-owner of SGFCO, said he wanted the mural to stay and expressed concern about the lack of safeguards for publicly recognized works of art.
“To paint over that is to say, like, could be interpreted as saying that his work is no longer relevant or that his story is no longer relevant. I don’t think that’s true,” Tyler said. “Robert’s artwork needs to be part of downtown for as long as we can maintain that memory and maintain that legacy.”
Tyler said the community had hoped protections would be in place for the mural. “Maybe we didn’t have those protections that we hope there would be, that maybe the sort of legacy and awareness of Robert’s work that we hope there would be wasn’t there,” he said.
The City of Springfield posted online, acknowledging the artwork held deep meaning for many residents. Because the building is privately owned, however, Pere is within his rights to make changes to its exterior.
Pere said he hopes to help relocate the mural to a more permanent location. “We want to help migrate that mural to a wall where it could be more permanent,” he said. “I’d love to help them find a space for it. I’d love to help. I’d love to see the city get involved to the point where that space could be a permanent space where it’s actually maintained because it is obvious now that it is very important to the city of Springfield.”
Pere is already working with an artist on a new mural for the side of the building, intended to represent veterans. That mural is expected to begin going up at the end of the month.
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