Aaron Kizer’s well-known mural of Johnny Depp and nearby businesses in downtown Owensboro were vandalized early Sunday morning.
The mural — painted on the side of the RYco Jewelers building owned by Chris Anderson — was among multiple downtown properties marked with orange spray paint around 5:30 a.m., according to Ben Skiadas with The Famous Bistro. Surveillance footage shows an adult male committing the vandalism, Skiadas said.
Kizer’s mural depicts Depp’s character from the 1990 film Cry-Baby. Completed in 2023, it has become one of downtown Owensboro’s most recognizable works of public art — a tribute to the actor who was born in Owensboro and spent part of his childhood here.
Kizer said he was disappointed to learn that the mural was tagged but grateful the damage was minor.
“It happened later than I thought; I figured it would happen sooner,” Kizer said. “It’s not anything I can’t fix and won’t go back and do. If they mess it up, I’ll just paint over the whole thing and do it again. I’m not too tied to that stuff. It doesn’t hurt my feelings.”
Kizer added that while the act was discouraging, he doesn’t believe it was done maliciously toward the artwork or those involved.
“I don’t think whoever did it meant to destroy anything. I think they just did something just to be doing something,” he said. “I hate it not for myself, but for the building owners and The Bistro who got hit. Those are costs you don’t expect to absorb as a business.”
Anderson said he discovered the damage Sunday morning after staying downtown overnight for Illuminate. While disappointed to see the mural affected, he said the damage was minimal.
“Thankfully, they didn’t desecrate the painting. It could have been a lot worse,” Anderson said. “If a couple spray paint marks are the only scar we have from it, we’ll get over that. Still not fun, but it didn’t ruin our good weekend and good time.”
Skiadas said portions of his restaurant’s property, including the rear alley and grill area, were also hit. Despite the frustrating discovery, he echoed Anderson’s sentiment that the incident should not overshadow what was otherwise a successful weekend for downtown.
“We’ve had such a great weekend with Illuminate and all this fantastic public art and so many people getting along great,” Skiadas said. “Then you have one bad actor, but I don’t think it had anything to do with the event. It just happened to occur around that time.”
Kizer also praised the Illuminate event and the direction Owensboro is heading artistically.
“I think it was a great event for the city, something I hope they do again,” Kizer said. “Owensboro is becoming really progressive with the arts. I hope one day Owensboro is known as an art city, and it’s definitely moving that way.”
Both Anderson and Skiadas said they do not currently plan to file a police report. They emphasized that they don’t want one act of vandalism to tarnish the overwhelmingly positive impact of Illuminate.
“It was really cool for the city,” Anderson said. “For a small blue-collar town, we offer a variety of cultural experiences, from the performing arts center to events like Illuminate. That’s something worth celebrating.”
