The following is a press release from the Ukiah Police Department. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:
On the morning of 06/23/2024, a vandalism to several doors with glass windows at the City of Ukiah building located at 300 Seminary Avenue occurred. The damage was discovered at a later date; however, video footage captured the incident and the person responsible for the damage. In total, there was $630.00 worth of damage to City of Ukiah property.
The video footage of the incident was turned over to the Ukiah Police Department (UPD) for investigation. Through an extensive investigation, the suspect was identified as Mariya Siddons, a 39-year-old female of Ukiah. On 07/07/2024, Siddons was located and placed under arrest. Siddons was charged with the above mentioned charge and booked at the Mendocino County Jail.
As always, our mission at UPD is to make Ukiah as safe a place as possible. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website; www.ukiahpolice.com
Why lock the obviously troubled graffiti artist up? Give her a position on the City Arts Council or some such. Couldn’t help but be an upgrade to civic esthetics of the benighted burg.
Yeah what’s the difference between her and the bandit lady that puts her vandalism everywhere and gets away with it? I would like to go paint crosses all over town.. Would I be arrested? Probably… It seems to depend on whoever agrees with your message nowadays. But the lady has a point with all the biometrics being done against our knowledge of WHAT the info is being collected for!
I say if you let the velvet bandit go, you should let her go too!
Lame argument, dude. The velvet bandit does her smart, feel good & beautiful work on abandoned, dilapidated or other non-invasive areas of the community. If you want to put up Jesus sticks, go ahead. Just put em in places that won’t cost someone $ to remove it.
Disagree. The VB has definitely threw up her art on buildings that are alive and well including structures in public parks. She even put up the coat hanger with WTF in the middle of it onone on a shipping container in Willits where a lot of people drive by (how do you explain that to your 8 year old kid? About the extinction of metal coat hangers? ?
And a lot of her stuff follows (or follwed)a certain ideology. It’s ok to have different opinions, but saying that her art is “feel good”
Isn’t necessarily true if you don’t belong to the same ideology as her. ? it sounds like your idealogy isn’t aligned with the women in the photo, but there are probably a lot of people who do share it and so then to them her “street art” would be considered “feel good” and “beautiful.”
Art is up for interpretation i guess. But these are just words (not art) on a occupied & in use municipal building. Hardly comparable to someone making a statement, in an artistic way, that is esthetically pleasing, at least to me & many others, on an ugly eyesore shipping container.
And you don’t have to explain anything to your 8yr old because I have no doubt their face isn’t buried in an iPad or tablet. Congratulations if yours is the only one who isn’t.
Andy Warhol said it best.
“Art is what you can get away with”
Growing up in Mendocino County during the 60’s and 70’s and beyond and being involved in the drug and counter culture provided me with the oppurtunity of meeting and befriending many people that fit the description perfectly.
As a matter of fact some of them are still pulling it off and laughing all of the way to the bank.
It was a pleasure to read these comments today. Who knew it would become a well-reasoned discussion on what makes art art.
Goddamnit. Now I guess I have to read up on the velvet bandit. Whoever the hell that is.
Mariya, next time draw a little something next to your statement so we can call it art! I totally get you! I understand what you mean and it’s super important. To me.