Dubuque Ordered a Tarp Over Its 'Solidarity' Mural Removed Before Trump's Rally
City officials said they never authorized the tarp that appeared Saturday over the 105-foot 'Solidarity' mural on the city-owned Five Flags Civic Center, ordered the building's operator to take it down, and said the rally's rental agreement gave no one the right to change the building's exterior.
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The mural was uncovered before the president arrived. Dubuque officials ordered the removal of a tarp draped over the 'Solidarity' mural on the city-owned Five Flags Civic Center, where President Donald Trump rallied on Sunday, after the covering drew wide attention on social media on Saturday, the Des Moines Register reported.
The city said in a statement late Saturday that it was not asked if the exterior of the Five Flags Civic Center could be modified and did not authorize the tarp, which news reports said was placed by Trump's advance team. 'The facility rental agreement for the Sunday, Nov. 1, event does not include any authority to modify the exterior of the facility,' the city said. It ordered the private management company that operates the center, Oak View Group, to remove the tarp, and said the company had done so. Oak View said it had not been involved in placing the tarp; KCRG-TV reported that the center's general manager for Oak View, Scott Hallgren, said the White House's goal in covering the mural was to provide exterior branding and put up a U.S. flag.
The mural itself is city-commissioned art: 105 feet long and 28 feet wide, facing Main Street beside the center's entrance, it depicts 10 raised Black, brown and White fists, each bearing a letter on the wrist that together spell 'SOLIDARITY,' with symbols including a Pride rainbow and emblems for disability rights, mental health and gender diversity. Artist Shelby Fry, an Iowa State University graduate, created it in 2020 with the help of 80 volunteers, inspired, she said that year, by the diverse crowds that protested after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Trump has frequently criticized expressions of diversity, equity and inclusion and has ordered the removal of displays addressing diversity and historical racism from federal museums and historic sites, the Register noted. Sunday's rally at the center was his second in Iowa ahead of Tuesday's midterms, after an Oct. 22 appearance in Sioux City - and by the time he took the stage in Dubuque, the city's mural was back in full view of Main Street.
