What's worse - being ignored or being attacked?

As a street painter, we learn quickly to adapt to changing conditions (weather, surface, materials, etc.).  We understand that those are things that make every experience different.  But there are other conditions that we deal with that have to do with human behavior.

Here is a link to a video interview with a local TV station about the damage a local group did to my chalk art at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival in 2013.  The group, which I will not name, did not like the subject matter in the art, which was chosen by the state of Florida for the Viva Florida 500 poster. 

I was heckled, and then when I was done and took a break, they made noise, threw flyers around and then splattered the art with fake blood.  When the local deputy on duty was notified of this, they said the art was "worthless" and it was a public street, so nothing could be done. 

Really.  Worthless?  It was bad enough to have someone ignore the 2 1/2 days of work I voluntarily donated to the event, and the beauty of the art, but then to have the sheriff act as judge and jury and pass judgement, was heartbreaking.

Hopefully, we can educate the public about street painting as an art form.