Bill Pavlacka, known widely as the Sandcastle Man, just got the boot from the place he called his sandy canvas for nearly two decades, the Hotel del Coronado in Southern California, as reported by The Hill. Pavlacka has been a staple there, spending almost 20 years creating intricate sand art right on the hotel’s property.
Hotel del Coronado management confirmed they parted ways with Pavlacka effective February 5. They issued a statement saying, “We can confirm that Hotel del Coronado and The Sandcastle Man have parted ways effective February 5,” and added that they wished him continued success. The management officially attributes the split to policy violations and negative impacts on guest experiences.
If you ask Pavlacka, who is a former construction worker, the reason he’s suddenly unwelcome has nothing to do with policy violations. He believes the real issue is that the hotel management found his artistic messages “too political.” This isn’t the first time an artist has been targeted because of their seemingly tame political stance, though.
This is absolutely wild when you consider the messages they objected to
Pavlacka uses simple tools to craft his masterpieces, relying on buckets, a trusty paintbrush, and sometimes even just a plastic fork. However, since last year, he noticed that the hotel staff began scrutinizing the phrases he chose to embed in his art. He revealed that he was given a formal warning after writing messages like “I love democracy” and “I love freedom of speech.”…