If we ask random people on the street who they consider to be the greatest artist of our time, we are almost sure that at least half will name Banksy: an elusive British genius whose work appears in completely unpredictable places, immediately turning the sometimes most ordinary city back streets into true museums.
But for some people, Banksy's work doesn't seem to be art at all, simply because art is about brushes, paints, and canvases, not plaster and asphalt. At least, this landlord, who became famous throughout TikTok thanks to her talented tenant, thought so.
More info: TikTok
This tenant made some great and cute chalk drawings on the driveway, but the landlord's wife wasn't happy with it
Image credits: @varakaughn
"My landlord's wife told me my chalk art was disrespectful and it had to go"
Yesterday I was doing chalk art in the driveway. My landlord drove by to check it out, seemed really interested and excited for me. I wasn't finished yet, so I told him to come check it out tomorrow. So today he pulls up with his wife, she immediately tells me that what I was doing was disrespectful and not okay."
Image credits: @varakaughn
Image credits: @varakaughn
"I explained that it was chalk art and it would wash away once it rained"
"She told me that I have been so disrespectful to her a lot and that she's let me get away with a lot and she was not happy. I told her that I wasn't being disrespectful and that I would wash it off myself.
Image credits: @varakaughn
Image credits: @varakaughn
"She kept calling me disrespectful because I didn't ask"
"Okay, well, I didn't think I need to but now I know. But what blows me away is that she kept saying things like 'Kara, we have conflict and you're disrespectful to me. And I know there are other places to rent. So if you don't like it here, you could just leave.'"
Image credits: @varakaughn
Image credits: @varakaughn
"Which any issues we have had in the past were all one-sided"
"She comes looking for the littlest things or flips things around to make me seem irresponsible and she says that to me a lot. And so I told her, I was like, 'Hey, there's no issues here. I'm doing what you're asking. I've been compliant. We are done with this conversation. Goodbye.' I can't listen to her belittle me anymore, but the art is gone."
The artist took it online just to vent about it, but people's huge support inspired her to stand up for her rights more
And now try to say that these numerous family comedies with a kind, but uncomplicated plot, where a brave heroine opposes injustice and eventually wins, are not at all lifelike! In the story of Kara Vaughn, an art teacher at one of the middle schools in Huntington, Kansas, everything looked the way it did on those old VHS from our childhood - except that TikTok became the means to defeat the evil landlord here.
To be absolutely precise, the antagonist here is not the landlord, but his wife, who did not like the chalk drawings Kara made on the driveway of the house she rents and demanded that she remove them immediately, calling them 'disrespectful' for some reason.
Why cute and stylish images of Pokemon, which, moreover, will be washed away by the next rain, may seem to someone a manifestation of disrespect, we will not ask at all - simply because the reason under which the landlord's wife found fault with Kara is completely ridiculous. But is it ridiculous when your drawings are disparagingly called 'not art' and your landlord threatens not to renew the lease over them? Definitely not. Period.
Okay, even when Kara clarified if she had the right to draw on the sidewalks opposite the house - which are city property - yes, the city had nothing against it... so, when Kara started drawing on the sidewalks, the landlord's wife was still against. The woman did not believe that the city allowed Kara to draw on the sidewalk, and said that she did not perceive chalk drawings as art. Just like graffiti. And 'graffiti', as she believed, made her property look bad.
Luckily, TikTok has fulfilled its function as a social mouthpiece once again, and Kara, inspired by over 12M views of her original video, began to stand up for her rights. One of the following videos has already gained 24M views - the artist became a local celebrity, people started talking about her, and what was probably just an entitled person's desire to once again show her power just exposed her to ridicule.
Many commenters generally believe that there is a banal manifestation of jealousy here - perhaps the landlord once complimented Kara's drawings, but his wife did not like it. "I'm certain it has to do with the husband, she's probably insecure about you and him having any communication," one of the folks in the comments shared their guess. In any case, justice has been served once more, and now it's the time to write Kara some encouraging words of praise. We already wrote, and you?
People in the comments praised Kara a lot and thought the landlord's wife could have just been jealous
