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Following a concerted effort by left-leaning activists and Providence’s Mayor Brett Smiley to halt the creation of a mural depicting Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was tragically killed, the artwork’s original project was abandoned. However, a different venue in the city has now embraced the mural, ensuring its completion.
Opa the Phoenician, a Lebanese eatery situated in the historic Federal Hill area of Providence, has taken on the task of hosting the mural. Artist Ian Gaudreau commenced the mural’s installation on Friday.
The mural was initially set to adorn the exterior of The Dark Lady, an LGBT bar located downtown. Nevertheless, the bar succumbed to pressure from opponents, leading to the suspension and subsequent cancellation of the project.
Photograph of the unfinished, contentious mural of Iryna Zarutska on the wall of The Dark Lady in Providence, dated March 30, 2026. (Photo by David DelPoio/The Providence Journal/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Mayor Smiley emerged as a key figure in opposing the mural’s creation.
“The murder of the individual depicted in this mural was a devastating tragedy, but the misguided, isolating intent of those funding murals like the one across the country is divisive and does not represent Providence,” he said in a statement, adding that he wanted to “encourage our community to support local artists whose work brings us closer together rather than divide us.”
Co-owner of Opa, Francois Karam, emphasized that the restaurant is owned by immigrants and the mural is a way to honor Zarutska’s story as an immigrant.
“[Iryna] was once an immigrant chasing the American dream,” Karam said, according to WJAR. “She worked to build a life for herself and lost it along the way. This mural is our way of honoring her on a building owned by an immigrant family who understands that journey.”
Iryna Zarutska cowers as her attacker towers over her on Aug. 22. 2025. (NewsNation via Charlotte Area Transit System)
Gaudreau echoed that sentiment.
“He has an immigrant family story himself,” he said of Karam. “So he really connected with Iryna, and he felt really passionate about the project.”
Zarutska was killed on Aug. 22 after she was randomly stabbed from behind on a Charlotte, North Carolina, light-rail train. The suspect in her unprovoked murder is Decarlos Brown Jr., who had a lengthy rap sheet, including convictions for larceny, breaking and entering, and armed robbery.
Booking photo of Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., taken Sept. 14, 2022, following his arrest in Mecklenburg County. Brown, 34, is charged in the Aug. 22, 2025, stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska aboard a Charlotte light-rail train. (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office)
He had previously served five years in prison.
Fox News Digital reached out to Smiley’s office.Â