For Village of the Arts residents, losing sidewalk art felt like losing a piece of their identity.
Around 5 a.m. on Aug. 27, residents in Bradenton’s Village of the Arts (VOTA) watched as city employees sandblasted sidewalks, removing murals and paintings of Alice in Wonderland and Frida Kahlo. The art removal was part of a statewide directive handed down by the Florida Department of Transportation.
The first wave left “ghosts” of the artwork on some sidewalks, described Zoe Von Averkamp, owner of Divine Excess Folk Art Gallery…