Local artist Jeff Skomski says a Hartford, WI, cocktail lounge canceled his “paint and sip” event because he painted a portrait of Charlie Kirk for a client. If you want to help Skomski by ordering a painting or by hosting a “paint and sip,” you can reach out to him through his Facebook page.
Wisconsin artist Jeff Skomski was developing a positive reputation for his public art and murals. None of it was particularly controversial, and he didn’t consider himself political. His artwork adorned a pet store; he painted mushrooms, butterflies, and flowers for non-profits. He received a positive write-up by WTMJ-TV, which revealed that the lifelong Wisconsinite had quit his job delivering appliances to pursue his passion for “beautifying public spaces.” He was described as having a “constant smile.”
Skomski was planning a new concept to help fund his artistry: Holding “sip and paint” events at local bars and other establishments. Both would presumably benefit; the patrons who were interested in painting would likely also purchase drinks.
That all changed on September 17 after Skomski, who turns 31 shortly, posted a portrait that he painted of Charlie Kirk, in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, to his Facebook page. The post isn’t even particularly political. He was asked to paint Kirk for someone and did. It was a paying client.
“I finished your commission piece!!” he wrote. “It’s my 1st patriotic commission.” He attached the hashtag #godblesseveryone.
That’s when he says Mavericks Cocktail Lounge, located in Hartford, Wisconsin, not far from Milwaukee, cancelled his paint-and-sip.
“My paint and sip got canceled because I painted a canvas, and said nothing hateful about anybody, I have no hate in my heart for anybody or their opinions,” Skomski revealed on Facebook on September 19. “I don’t care what side you believe in, left or right nobody deserves to get shot or die because of their opinions. I have love in my heart for everybody who shows me love, and am the furthest from a hateful person. Thanks.”
The post ricocheted around the web and was quickly reposted by the Washington County Republican Party, which alleged, “This Hartford bar cancelled a paint and sip with this artist due to him having painted a Charlie Kirk mural. Help spread the word to not support this local business.”
Skomski’s fiancee Nicole Currier wrote on Facebook, “My fiancé is a wonderful person. He hasn’t ever said anything malicious. The fact that he is being punished because he did a commission piece is beyond me. We all have our own beliefs in this world and will never agree. The difference is how you treat someone. Jeff is not a hateful person. Anyone that can’t see that is blind. Thank you everyone for your support of my fiance ❤️”
‘Hey Jeff, Just Saw Your Charlie Kirk Post’
Skomski shared a screenshot from a person named Nik Brookings with his post. The post reads, “Hey Jeff, just saw your Charlie Kirk post. As an owner of Mavericks Cocktail Lounge, we cannot support something that is directly against what we stand for and shows hate against our queer community, employees and ownership. It isn’t aligned with us and so we will have to forgo your paint and sip at our establishment. Wishing you the Best of luck!”
We reached out to Brookings via Facebook and received no response. However, Mavericks weighed in extensively on its Facebook page. Mavericks is claiming they are “protecting our space to be a safe space” and that they don’t want to be affiliated with someone whom they allege “hates gay people.”
“The fact anyone thinks politicians care about us is funny,” they wrote.
On September 20, the bar wrote, “Man keeping up with blocking all the haters has become a full time gig🤣 big thanks to Facebook and google for taking these false reviews down. But if you want to have a drink at the sh*ttiest bar in Hartford, burlesque starts at 730!” Some people voiced support for the bar. “Thank you for being you!” wrote one woman on the comment thread. Other comment writers trashed Kirk, calling him names.
The bar was hosting “A night of classic burlesque, drag, and variety in Hartford, WI presented by Dionysia,” on September 20.
However, others blistered the lounge for its decision, although many of those comments are no longer visible on the page.
“Let me start by saying I openly supported you when the ‘controversy’ of your drag shows came up and I still will. I just want to let you know your opinion of Charlie Kirk is misguided,” wrote one man on the comment thread. “Yes, he was a conservative Christian, but he was not hateful. If any of the ‘facts’ you posted about him were taken in context you’d realize that. I would bet the memes you posted are all you know about him. Please do some more research. I’ll support your business’s freedom of expression either way. Best wishes!”
Another man wrote, “Inclusive, unless you paint pictures of Charlie Kirk. Then, decidedly UNINCLUSIVE. Check a dictionary.”
The lounge, which is located in the red community of Hartford, Wisconsin, also posted a statement on its Facebook page declaring, “Well, that’s been fun. Anyways, we’re open and still INCLUSIVE as always.”
But it hasn’t been fun for Skomski, who denies being hateful and says he’s not even particularly political.
‘I’m Very in the Center,’ Jeff Skomski Says, ‘…But No One Deserves to Die Over Political Views’
“I’m very in the center,” Jeff Skomski told Wisconsin Right Now in an exclusive interview. “I love everybody, if you’re a good person and have good ideologies and want to be a loving and accepting person. I’m not politically driven, but no one deserves to die over political views. That’s literally all it is. I’m not left or right, but I don’t think anyone deserves to die for their views.”
Now, he says, “I’ve been afraid of my safety” due to the uproar that erupted (although he isn’t accusing any particular person or Mavericks of making him afraid for his safety, to be clear. He was speaking generally because of the intensity of the debate). He says an old meme Mavericks shared as supposed evidence he’s anti-gay (he liked it over 1.5 years ago and wasn’t the original poster of it) was not indicative of how he feels and was “ridiculous.” He said he is not anti-gay.
What ensued was a heated back-and-forth on the lounge’s Facebook page among people upset about the lounge’s action, people defending it, and Mavericks itself, which wrote a slew of comments in the comment thread. Many of the back-and-forth exchanges are no longer visible on the Mavericks Cocktail Lounge Facebook page, but they are preserved here:
“I am the furthest of what they are accusing me of,” Skomski, a native of Wisconsin who lives in Jackson near where he was born and raised, told Wisconsin Right Now on September 20.
The incident has caused him stress because “I have a mortgage and am getting married in three weeks,” he said. However, he also has been offered the opportunity to host paint and sips at other businesses in the wake of the controversy.
He was reached out to by a business called A Wonderland, and now has a paint and sip scheduled there on October 5 at 11 a.m. at 1749 Barton Avenue in West Bend, WI.
Learn about it here.
His Facebook page is now filled with support. He conducted the interview while at Fiesta Latina, where he was auctioning his artwork.
When he set up the “paint and sip” in the first place, Skomski said, “I knew what kind of bar it was, but it didn’t bother me. I had nothing against anybody.” The bar has held drag shows in the past.
“I was excited to go and meet people who are loving people and like my art,” he said. “It got misconstrued that I’m a racist and I hate that community, and that’s not the case at all. I don’t care what you do with your sexuality. I could care less if you’re right, left, up or down. As long as you’re a good person, I’ll show you love.”
He said a person even threatened violence against him on his original Charlie Kirk painting post.
He said he got paid for the Kirk painting, and “this apparently got me clustered into being a racist,” which he says he is not. Skomski has been deeply troubled by what he calls “hateful comments” directed at him.
“I paint murals at places. I quit my job five months ago. I paint murals anywhere that has a wall that needs to be painted,” he said. “I ran out of walls to paint. I need to make a living.” People were going to be charged a fee to come in and paint while sipping beverages. He doesn’t even drink alcohol, but felt he could sell his art and make connections while teaching people to paint, calling it a “really good business model. I never intended for people to think I’m a horrible person.”
He noted of the comment thread, “I’m not there talking negatively…All of a sudden, I got lumped into being a racist. I didn’t appreciate that.”
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