Arts & Humanities Bainbridge (AHB) was deeply saddened by the discovery earlier this week that Ed McCarthy’s sculpture “I Watch Salmon from the Bridge Above” had been vandalized with a hate symbol.

A swastika was etched into the sculpture located in Waterfront Park. AHB and the City of Bainbridge Island have denounced this desecration, and it has been reported to the Bainbridge police and the state as a hate crime.

“It breaks our hearts to see such a beautiful work of art defaced with this abhorrent symbol. We are a community that treasures its public art and that does not tolerate any form of racism,” said AHB Board President, Linda Semlitz and AHB Executive Director, Inez Maubane Jones.

AHB manages the Public Art Committee that presents and curates the highly visible public art collection in Winslow for the enrichment and enjoyment of our community and to support and promote local artists. The program is funded by the City of Bainbridge Island.

AHB has reached out to the artist and to the city engineer to work toward repairing the piece quickly.

McCarthy told AHB he is disappointed “someone would make an effort to do this. It doesn’t add up and doesn’t make sense.” He says he hopes the vandalism was a spontaneous act of a mindless person who doesn’t get the seriousness of the symbol, adding that as an artist “it can make you feel vulnerable.”

“I Watch Salmon from the Bridge Above” was placed in Waterfront Park on Sep 28, 2021.

Rabbi Dario Feiguin of Congregation Kol Shalom told AHB: “It was with shock and pain that we received the sad news of the defacing of a beautiful work of art on Bainbridge Island. Our community has enjoyed a peaceful, harmonious and loving coexistence among everyone, without distinction of creed, political ideas, skin color, origin or social status.

“It is especially tragic to see this vandalism and act of hatred become visible in a work of art, when in reality art is one of the universal languages that unite people,” the Rabbi added. “We are concerned as members of the Jewish Community, but also as members of the general Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap County communities. We know from historical experience that hatred for one group can quickly transform into hatred for one another. Ultimately, it is just hatred that can destroy.

“We call on our communities to unite in defense of the values that we represent; respect for one another, solidarity and peace. You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).”

WATCH THIS VIDEO WHICH AIRED ON KOMO EVENING NEWS ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21.