GREENFIELD — It was a quiet protest — one filled with hope and compassion.
“Love will overcome fear,” said many of the dozen people who stood on the Greenfield Common admiring images of makeup designer, Emmy-nominated visual artist and drag queen Joe Dulude II as they were projected onto the facade of the former First National Bank starting at 8:30 Thursday night.
Sometime between the late hours of Aug. 1 and early hours of Aug. 2, one or more people vandalized — tore to shreds — two portraits of Dulude that had hung on the former First National Bank on Bank Row for the past month.
Dulude, in drag Thursday night, wore a long jacket as sparkly as his personality, and his friends and supporters arrived on the common at dusk to support him and stay until dawn.
“We chose an overnight stay because that’s when this horrible thing happened a week ago,” said Katherine “Kat” Adler, a friend of Dulude’s who performs with him as Karl in Mr. Drag and Karl. “We don’t know exactly what time, so we wanted to stay during the time it might have happened.”
At one point, as flameless candles flickered along the sidewalk, people drew with chalk on a long piece of black paper that Adler had brought for that reason, and illuminated balloons rolled around the common. A woman stopped her car in front of them, got out and voiced solidarity. A few minutes later, she drove up Bank Row, stopped again — this time in front of the bank building — and blasted “Lean on Me” with her windows down.
Dulude said he found out about the hateful act when he was in England, and felt hurt, angry and helpless at first.
“As I started to find out how violent and homophobic the incident seemed to be, I thought the person or people who did it must be very unhappy,” Dulude said. “It seemed planned because it took a lot of energy to do it.”
Dulude said both portraits were behind Plexiglass that was screwed in place with six screws. They were attached to foam board, so it would have been difficult to remove them so they could be shredded.
“They were difficult to put up there, so certainly they were difficult to take down,” Dulude said.
Dulude said the portraits seemed to provoke happiness, discussion and intrigue for most. He said he has chosen to not take the incident personally, saying it’s what he and the photos represented that he believes caused such a violent reaction from someone.
“I’ve had highs and lows, ups and downs since it happened, but mostly I wanted to react with compassion,” Dulude said. “I wish it had never happened, but I’m not sorry that it has brought so much love, compassion and understanding to the surface.”
Eggtooth Productions Artistic Director Linda McInerney, who collaborated in hanging the portraits, introduced Dulude to photographer Wheaton Mahoney, who said she was upset and heartbroken when she heard about the vandalism. Mahoney worked with Dulude for weeks to create the portraits, along with many others, which were all projected onto the bank building one by one.
As a cool breeze swept across the common, Mahoney sat on a bench with her young daughter Thursday night and reflected on the incident.
“When I first heard, I was numb, frustrated,” Mahoney said. “I knew it was possible they would be defaced — that wouldn’t have surprised me — but I didn’t expect such hate.”
Mahoney said though she was upset about the incident, Dulude’s strength and perseverance makes her feel better.
“It was an eye-opener in a good way, actually,” she said.
McInerney said artists are coming together to plan something bigger later this year. She said in October, there will be at least one day, if not an entire weekend, of gratitude and tolerance with lots of activities for children and adults.
“But it won’t be about what happened,” she said. “It will be about moving on from this.”
Eight-year-old Ruby Bogdanove wore one of her best dresses to attend the gathering on the common with her mother.
“We drove by last Thursday morning and looked at the photos,” Eve Bogdanove said. “When we drove by the next day, we saw the destruction. I wanted to show her that we can support people who are targeted. We can stand up with and for them. They can tear the photos down, but we’re not going anywhere.”
Lori Holmes Clark was on the common showing support for her fellow performer, collaborator and friend, whom she has known since 2005.
“We toured the U.S. with ‘Wicked,’” she said. “We’ve been making art together since the first year we went on tour. I’ve seen him grow so much as a performer. Joe is the most caring, joyful, consistent, kind, compassionate person I’ve ever met. Joe is genuine.”
Holmes Clark said she was sad and curious when she heard about the vandalism.
“Why would someone feel the need to destroy this art in such a violent way?” she said. “The treatment of the images was the most difficult to absorb.”
Holmes Clark said she thought about an atom when she heard the photos were torn to shreds — “When you break open an atom, you release a lot of power.”
Dulude said the support has been unbelievable.
“There are so many wonderful people,” Dulude said.
Adler said with the national climate being what it is right now, it’s easy to feel defeated, but the best response is what Dulude and his friends and supporters have had — love and community.
“There’s a sense of holding each other up and resisting hate while embracing this with love,” Adler said. “We’re answering with empathy and knowledge, and trying to understand where the pain of the person who did this comes from.”
Dulude said years of training and working on himself have led to his reaction.
“Once I learned that I didn’t have to react to bad things on such a visceral level, I began to understand better and be able to look at things compassionately,” Dulude said.
McInerney said it is a “really sad” incident, but from it will come good. She said the pieces of the photos have been saved and will be used in some other art project. Adler saved a few pieces of Plexiglass and plans to make a necklace for Dulude.
“It’s already happening,” McInerney said. “We’re taking full charge of this moment.”
They said police have told them they have not come up with any answers or suspects, yet, but are continuing their investigation. Dulude and his supporters said they are hopeful the perpetrator(s) will be found.
Reach Anita Fritz at
413-772-0261, ext. 269 or afritz@recorder.com.