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david wojnarowicz mural rediscovered kentucky 1234749395

In 1985, David Wojnarowicz and other New York artists traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, to create site-specific murals for a weeklong fundraiser benefiting the Kentucky Child Victims' Trust Fund. The murals were expected to be destroyed after the event, but in 2023, the Wojnarowicz Foundation discovered that Wojnarowicz's mural, titled 'The Missing Children Show' Mural, had survived behind a false wall. However, the work has since been covered again, leaving its fate uncertain.

article news schedule Aug 14, 2025 visibility 3 link 9 artists

Rediscovered David Wojnarowicz mural could disappear from view again

A large mural by David Wojnarowicz (1954-92), rediscovered in a Louisville, Kentucky building in 2022, is at risk of being concealed again behind drywall as the building is redeveloped into high-end residences. The site-specific work was created in 1985 for the group exhibition *The Missing Children Show: Six Artists from the East Village on Main Street*, organized by dealer Potter Coe to benefit the Kentucky Child Victims’ Trust Fund. The building's current developers plan to turn the mural's floor into a waiting room for a boxing gym, covering it with sheetrock, though they have guaranteed no damage. The artist's foundation and gallery, PPOW, have proposed covering it with transparent plexiglass instead, but the mural's removal is unlikely due to its size and brick surface.

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