'I'll Keep Fixing It' Geneva Woman Says After Pride Paint Job Covered

GENEVA, IL — Chrissy Swanson didn’t have any sort of agenda when she chose to paint a Geneva fire hydrant in a pattern of Pride colors as part of the local Art On Fire project.

But since spending two days painting the hydrant at the intersection of Kirk Road and East State Street, Swanson said that the hydrant has been painted over three different times and vandalized a fourth time.

In each case, Swanson’s design, which included the colors of the Pride flag painted along the side of the hydrant with a peace symbol on the back, has been painted over first in white paint, then in blue paint, and most recently in red paint over the weekend.

Swanson, who has lived in Geneva for 16 years, said she’s not frustrated that it’s her artwork being painted over, but instead, she’s upset that vandals are choosing to cover up the idea of why she chose to paint the hydrant as she did in the first place.

“It’s the fact of what it represents that’s being damaged,” Swanson told Patch on Tuesday.

The idea of painting the hydrant with pride colors was one of inclusion and making sure everyone in Geneva feels welcomed and “not to be ostracized for something they don’t even have a choice over.”

“I certainly wasn’t doing it to make a statement,” she added. “I was just doing it because I thought it was something happy and positive.”

Swanson, who is a substitute teacher who has also worked as a 911 dispatcher and nurse who has a crafty side was participating in the Art On Fire project for the first time. While her hydrant has been painted over three times, she isn’t ready to give up on the project, which allows residents to paint local fire hydrants in various themes.

She has reported the vandalism three times to police, who have told her they are working with another agency to see if they can determine who is vandalizing Swanson’s artwork. In a statement to Patch on Tuesday, Geneva Deputy Police Chief Brian Maduzia said that the department is actively investigating the matter and has confirmed with city officials that the hydrant was not painted over by the Public Works department.

Maduzia said that multiple people have been interviewed by that no persons of interest have been identified. He said that the police department is working with other law enforcement agencies to identify possible suspects to prevent the unauthorized repainting of the hydrant from taking place again. In the meantime, he encourages anyone with tips on the case to contact the police department.

Swanson said she chose the hydrant she did out of respect for a neighbor who might be offended by the Pride theme. But now, after her work has been painted over numerous times only to be recreated by Swanson, she plans to keep repainting the hydrant to send a message.

In the latest act of vandalism, Swanson said she finished repainting the hydrant at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday after working for about three hours — only to find that by Sunday morning, the paint had been scraped off. Swanson repainted the hydrant again on Sunday afternoon and said that if need be, she will continue to do so if those responsible for the vandalism return again.

“I didn’t begin this project to make a statement,” Swanson told Patch. “But if I quit fixing it, that’s going to make a statement.

She added: “I’ll keep painting over it, I’ll keep fixing it if someone paints over it. ….I feel like it’s saying, ‘hey, this isn’t going to go away.’ People of different beliefs or ethnicities or sexual orientation or whatever aren’t going to go away. You can have a narrow-minded view all you want, but the world is still full of individuals.”