Untitled (Stop the Monsters)

Untitled (Stop the Monsters) – Contemporary Political Street Art Installation

Artist: Unknown

Medium: Mixed-media street/graffiti sign on panel and paper collage

Date: c. Feb 2026

Original Installation Site: Tacoma Graffiti Garages, 731 Broadway, Tacoma, Washington, USA

This large-scale street-art installation combines hand-painted lettering, collage, stencil imagery, and found materials to create a confrontational work of contemporary political expression. The composition depicts a skull-like caricature of former U.S. President Donald Trump above the word “STOP,” while a secondary panel lists a number of prominent political and business figures beneath the heading “MONSTERS” followed by the statement “…ARE IN THE FILES.”

The phrase “the files” references the extensive public attention surrounding the investigation of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent release of court records, flight logs, contact books, and other documents associated with his criminal network. During the 2020s, these records became the subject of intense media coverage, political debate, online speculation, and public demands for greater transparency. While the appearance of an individual’s name within Epstein-related records does not, by itself, establish criminal conduct or wrongdoing, the controversy became a powerful symbol of public distrust toward political, financial, and social elites.

The work reflects a broader tradition of protest art that emerged in the United States during the 2020s, when street artists increasingly used public spaces to comment on political power, corruption, media narratives, institutional accountability, and the protection of children. By incorporating photocopied documents, layered paper textures, and graffiti aesthetics, the artist evokes the visual language of urban activism, anti-establishment protest, and contemporary conspiracy culture, encouraging viewers to question authority while reflecting the uncertainty and polarization of the period.

FAM preserves this object not as an endorsement of the opinions or allegations expressed within the artwork, but as a historical artifact documenting how contemporary Americans used street art to express anger, fear, distrust of institutions, and competing narratives surrounding politics, wealth, accountability, and child exploitation in the digital age. Like many forms of political street art, the installation captures the emotions, rhetoric, and visual language of its moment in history, regardless of whether viewers agree with its message.

Curatorial Note: The creator of this work is currently unknown. If you are the artist or have information that could help identify the artist or document the history of this installation, please contact the Fabulous Art Museum (FAM). Our mission is to preserve both the artwork and the stories behind it, ensuring that artists receive the recognition and historical attribution they deserve.

Themes: Political protest, street art, public dissent, Jeffrey Epstein controversy, institutional accountability, media culture, conspiracy narratives, child protection advocacy, contemporary American visual culture.

Historical Context: The Tacoma Graffiti Garages This installation was originally displayed at 731 Broadway in downtown Tacoma, Washington, a location historically associated with the renowned Tacoma Graffiti Garages. Situated between Broadway and Commerce Street, the garages became one of the Pacific Northwest’s most recognized centers for legal street art and urban expression.

From the late 2000s until 2016, the property’s owners implemented an innovative “free wall” program that transformed the concrete parking structures into designated public canvases. Artists, muralists, amateur painters, and graffiti writers were permitted to legally create artwork on the site’s exterior and interior walls, with new works often appearing each Sunday. The project was intended to reduce illegal graffiti throughout downtown while providing a legitimate space for artistic expression. Over time, the garages evolved into a dynamic outdoor gallery and cultural landmark, attracting artists, photographers, tourists, and street art enthusiasts from across the West Coast.

The experiment concluded in June 2016 following a change in property ownership and growing concerns from neighboring businesses and preservation advocates regarding graffiti spreading to adjacent historic buildings, accumulated litter, and public safety issues. In a single weekend, the walls were completely painted over in white, officially ending Tacoma’s legal graffiti program. Thereafter, any unauthorized artwork or installations at the site once again became acts of trespass and property defacement under local law.

Despite the closure, the location continued to occupy an important place within Tacoma’s street art culture. In 2022, plans were approved to demolish the aging garages and redevelop the property into an eight-story mixed-use residential building. Those plans stalled after the property’s owner, Bellevue-based investment firm iCap Equity, collapsed amid what federal authorities determined to be a large-scale Ponzi scheme. The property subsequently became entangled in federal receivership and debt proceedings, leaving the garages vacant, boarded, and awaiting redevelopment.

As a result, the abandoned structure once again became an informal canvas for unauthorized graffiti, wheat-paste posters, and political installations. Untitled (Stop the Monsters) represents this later chapter in the site’s history, reflecting how the former legal art sanctuary continued to serve as a venue for public expression despite its changed legal status. The work stands as both a political statement and a document of Tacoma’s evolving relationship with street art, public space, and civic discourse.