In June, someone decided to throw gray paint all over the Bettie Page mural that I-5 drivers see everyday as they pass by the Ravenna house it’s painted on. They not only defaced the mural but also scribbled a message on the home which read "Stop exploiting women's bodies.” It was signed by “some feminists.”
At the time, owners Chris Brugos and Jessica Baxter added a message of their own ("Autonomous sexuality is empowerment, telling a woman to cover up is oppression.") and vowed to bring Bettie back to her former glory. Not only are they going to do that but they’re also giving her a friend to hang out with.
Per SLOG, Local artist Two Thangs, otherwise known as Matthew Brennan IV, is restoring the side of the house with the mural on it and he’s adding drag icon Divine to join Page.
Then, when it came time to start the actual restoration, "the first thing that popped out of my mind for some reason was Divine, because I love drag queens, and Divine is the patron saint of drag queens," Baxter said.
Baxter told SLOG that they received numerous offers from people to help pay for the restoration but she turned them down and told them to donate that money to Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) instead.
No timetable on when the new and improved mural will be up, but we’re guessing you’ll know it when you see it while sitting in traffic one day soon.