Photo by wallyg

There was a slight panic today over at the Prince of Petworth this morning when a reader noticed that the Duke Ellington mural that famously faces westward along U Street from the True Reformer Building had disappeared. In its place remains little more than a faded Coca-Cola ad.

Needless to say, the mural was iconic and represented the history of what was once known as Black Broadway. Created by local artist G. Byron Peck in 1997 and attached to the True Reformer Building—itself a historical landmark—in 2004, the mural was based on a photo of the cover of Ellington’s autobiography, Music is My Mistress. With the mural gone, a symbol of the corridor’s past could well have been set aside to its changing character.

Or not. The mural isn’t gone for good—it’s just gone for some work. According to Peck’s studio, it was recently removed by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities so it could be conserved and restored. Zoma Wallace, a curator and arts collection manager at the commission, confirmed that they had taken it down, and added that pieces of the mural—it’s made up of a collection of tiles—had recently been falling to the ground, posing a safety hazard.

Wallace said that the commission is working with conservators and had no time frame as to how long it would take for the mural to be reinstalled; Peck’s studio told us that they had been told it could take up to a year.

UPDATE, 1 p.m.: The commission has put out a press release on the mural:

Two weeks ago, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities took the first steps in restoring the famous G. Byron Peck mural of Duke Ellington on the True Reformer Building (1200 U Street, NW) to its original condition.

The artwork, which was painted on cement panels, was taken down due to elemental decay over the last eight years.

“The Duke Ellington mural is an iconic artwork in Washington,” said Lionell Thomas, Executive Director at the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. “Over the years, this mural has become a symbol for the U Street community. We are working diligently to insure that the mural is returned to the community in its original condition.”

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities hired the fine arts services company, ARTEX, to remove, store and prep the mural for damage assessment. Restoration of the mural may take up to one year.

The mural was originally created and installed in 1997 on the side of Mood Indigo, an antique and vintage clothing shop, at 1214 U St., NW. The mural was relocated in 2004 to the True Reformer Building.