A Madeira, Ohio, high school student's artwork was pulled from a city art show in a seeming effort to appease critics.
The piece of art at the center of the controversy depicted a police officer as a pig in uniform. Newspaper clippings with headlines of recent police brutality cases were meant to draw attention to police misconduct. However, critics called the piece divisive. City and school officials removed the artwork before the May 5 show following the outcry, The Cincinatti Enquirer reports.
Apparently, students were asked to use current events to create a piece for the show.
“Take current event articles published in newspapers or magazines on a similar topic and then summarize those articles into a visual representation of the feelings and emotions within the articles selected,” the prompt said.
The unnamed student followed the directions to a tee and was granted a place in Madeira Municipal Building where it was showcased.
In a Facebook post, one of the artwork's critics, Kellie Gantzer Williams, wrote that she saw the piece at the Madeira Municipal Building. Gantzer Williams then reported the pig caricature to Madeira Schools superintendent Kenji Matsudo. The school sent the triggered woman a statement apologizing for her disapproval.
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"I've wrestled with whether or not to post this," the post began.
"I support free speech and pouring your feelings into artwork. But this goes way beyond that, it promotes hatred and divisiveness," Williams continued. "I just can’t believe this is hanging in a local municipal building.”
According to local news source WCPO, other critics were less civil. Some reportedly sent threats to the student and made calls complaining about the art to the Madeira Police Department. Madeira City Schools said they had to remove the piece “out of concern for the safety of the student.”
“It was not the intention of the student to evoke such a divisive response,” the statement added.
Yahoo News reports the City manager Tom Moeller was notified of the threats and then acted accordingly. In a statement to The Enquirer, Moeller said he and officials will review the art contest's rules to prevent future controversies.
“In the past, we have never seen a reason, or never came across a reason, to inspect what is being displayed in the municipal building,” Moeller told The Enquirer. “That’s one thing we’re going to discuss with the Madeira Schools. When this piece was apparently first noticed, our police department was notified. We, in turn, notified Madeira Schools. They reacted quickly and had it removed before the show actually started.”
Lieutenant Dan Hils, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, said he did not agree with the artwork's message but did not believe it should have been removed.
“For me, the word I think of is just a little disappointed — disappointed that there is youth that believe that of police officers,” he said, adding: “It’s a beautiful thing our country has — the ability for people to express how they feel and this young person was expressing how they feel. I feel they were wrong.”
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