Post by Okwes on Aug 15, 2006 18:24:04 GMT -5
Murals spark debate over censorship One of the murals under fire was
painted in 1937.
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
www.vindy.com/content/national_world/318155047820588.php
<http://www.vindy.com/content/national_world/318155047820588.php>
WASHINGTON � A quarrel over public art and political correctness has
been simmering for a decade inside � of all places � the
Environmental Protection Agency.
In a bureaucracy better known for fights over the survival of some rare
toad or vanishing plant, several 1930s murals of the Old West have
become a flash point in a debate over negative stereotypes and artistic
censorship.
The mural that's sparking the most debate depicts Indians brutally
scalping and murdering white settlers. All the women are naked,
including one who's on all fours as a male Indian stands behind her,
seizing her hair.
Called "Dangers of the Mail," the 1937 mural was painted by Frank
Mechau, a prominent Western artist.
Critics also have singled out several other murals, including two by
Wichita, Kan., artist Ward Lockwood, as either historically inaccurate
or promoting offensive stereotypes. They want them to be removed.
"It's the basic stereotype of native people as being violent savages,"
said Richard Regan, a former EPA employee who was among the murals'
early opponents. "It reinforces the stereotype for people who may not
know that much about native culture."
Regan and others said the art wasn't appropriate for the workplace.
"When you have very few native American employees, it makes people less
sensitive to it," said Washington lawyer Judith Lee, who's part Choctaw
and represented EPA employees in talks over the murals.
painted in 1937.
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
www.vindy.com/content/national_world/318155047820588.php
<http://www.vindy.com/content/national_world/318155047820588.php>
WASHINGTON � A quarrel over public art and political correctness has
been simmering for a decade inside � of all places � the
Environmental Protection Agency.
In a bureaucracy better known for fights over the survival of some rare
toad or vanishing plant, several 1930s murals of the Old West have
become a flash point in a debate over negative stereotypes and artistic
censorship.
The mural that's sparking the most debate depicts Indians brutally
scalping and murdering white settlers. All the women are naked,
including one who's on all fours as a male Indian stands behind her,
seizing her hair.
Called "Dangers of the Mail," the 1937 mural was painted by Frank
Mechau, a prominent Western artist.
Critics also have singled out several other murals, including two by
Wichita, Kan., artist Ward Lockwood, as either historically inaccurate
or promoting offensive stereotypes. They want them to be removed.
"It's the basic stereotype of native people as being violent savages,"
said Richard Regan, a former EPA employee who was among the murals'
early opponents. "It reinforces the stereotype for people who may not
know that much about native culture."
Regan and others said the art wasn't appropriate for the workplace.
"When you have very few native American employees, it makes people less
sensitive to it," said Washington lawyer Judith Lee, who's part Choctaw
and represented EPA employees in talks over the murals.