The Art Wall Park, located at 221 6th N. Street off the New Ulm bike trail, is a place where artists are encouraged to spray paint graffiti art. The works of art are constantly changing at the park with no status quo, but in the last month, citizens have noticed an uptick in racist and hate-filled graffiti and have responded by removing it.

Ali Gibbs is one of many people who run along the bike trail past the Art Wall park. She said over the last month there was a noticeable increase in hate speech spray painted in the park. It bothered her and she decided to do something about it. Saturday, July 27 Gibbs, her husband, children, and two other families visited the Art Wall park with $200 worth of spray paint to cover up several swastikas, the n-word written large and other hateful messages targeting the LGBTQ community and other ethnic groups.

Gibbs said after covering over the most noticeable stuff, they found even more. The problem is they had run out of spray paint. The $200 worth of spray paint was not enough to cover all the hate speech.

Gibbs posted on Facebook asking if anyone else could help finish what they started.

Samantha Kump spray paints over one of the few remaining swastikas painted on the bike path near the Art Wall Park. Kump said it is impossible for one person to find all the hate symbols, but through a group effort the park can be hate free.

“I remembered when we moved here in 2020 stumbling on a Facebook group that was trying to monitor and remove hate speech from the Art Wall,” Gibbs said. She asked if they were still interested in this.

It turned out several people were willing to answer that call. A new Facebook group called “New Ulm Art Wall Peace Keepers” was launched soon after with the goal of organizing to monitor and remove hate-filled graffiti.

The group was started by Samantha Kump who was one of the first to answer Gibbs’s call. Kump’s idea was to use the Facebook group to create a signup schedule for members to monitor the Art Wall park. Individuals would sign up for a date on the calendar to visit the Art Wall and report back if there is any hate speech that needs to be removed. If messages of hate are spotted, a member will paint over it later.

Kump clarified that people signing up are only asked to monitor the Art Wall and report back. They do not need to paint anything themselves.

As of Thursday, Kump said two families have signed up to help monitor the wall. Kump estimated that only 10 or 12 volunteers are needed to fill the schedule. The goal is to make sure the group remains vigilant to make sure the problem does not return.

Samantha Kump scans the tunnel walls for additional hate symbols while her daughter Layla paints positive messages.

Kump and her family visited the Art Wall Park Thursday morning to take the first shift at removing hate symbols. With a can of donated paint, Kump and her daughter Layla took to locating and removing any leftover hate symbols. Most of the extreme messages had already been painted over, but a few more were found.

“It is impossible to find them all, that’s why we want others to help,” Kump said. No one person could find it all, but a group can.

The Kump family viewed Art Wall Park as a gathering place for people of all ages to share their talents using different mediums at the Art Wall, but the abundance of hate speech targeted at LGBTQ people and different ethnic groups undermines the purpose of the park.

“I just want people in my community to feel safe,” Kump said. “My kids play at the nearby soccer field. People walk the bike path past here every day and they deserve to feel safe.”

Kump and her family are fans of the Art Wall Park. They visit often. Her daughter Layla held her last birthday party in the park. Layla said seeing hateful messages at the park now was “disappointing.”

Layla Kump helped her mother spot and eliminate several of the hateful messages, replacing many with messages of hope or positivity.

Samantha Kump is hopeful that the recent attention to the park will keep people from spreading messages of hate away.

Gibbs is pleased more people have taken an active role in eliminating the hateful message from the park.

“I’ve found in our last four years living in New Ulm that there are a lot of people who care and want to make the community a better place,” Gibbs said. “The hate speech does not paint the correct picture for New Ulm.”

Those who want to help can request to join the New Ulm Art Wall Peace Keepers group and pick a date to visit the Art Wall area, using the signup link.