Wendell Berry joins lawsuit to stop University of Kentucky from removing controversial mural – Courier Journal

A look at some of the events over the past 30 days that have made history in Kentucky. Louisville Courier Journal

Famed Kentucky writer Wendell Berry has joined a lawsuit attempting to stop the University of Kentucky from removing a longtime controversial mural on campus depicting slavery.

The suit, filed electronically Monday,seeks to stop UK President Eli Capilouto from removing a 1934 fresco in Memorial Hall, arguing that the rare piece of art is publicly owned and exists to"promote education, the arts, and governmental purposes."

Removing the fresco, the lawsuit argues, can't be done safely.

"The completed OHanlon Mural is an actual part of the building itself," the lawsuit states. "The plaster is an inherent part of the lobby walls on which it is painted. The completed Mural leaves a brilliant, nearly indestructible glass-like surface.

"The fresco cannot be removed without removing the entire wall itself. Any attempt to remove the wall with the OHanlon Mural puts the physical integrity of this unique work of public art at risk of shattering and being destroyed."

Wendell Berry at home in 2006.(Photo: Courier Journal file photo)

The suit, which names the university and Capilouto, also calls for protection of the response mural named "Witness."

Along with the lawsuit, theNational Coalition Against Censorship wrote aletter to Capilouto on July 1, arguing that the removal of a controversial mural on campuswould invalidate the work of aBlack artist's response.

"This is the first instance we are aware of in which the removal of a mural by a white artist will have the simultaneous effect of silencing the work of a Black artist," the letter stated.

Background: A timeline of the controversies surrounding UK's Memorial Hall mural

UK spokesman Jay Blanton said in a statement that "Our respect for Wendell Berry is deep and abiding. His contributions to our state and literature are profound. Moving art, however, is not erasing history. It is, rather, creating context to further dialogue as well as space for healing."

Ann Rice OHanlon paintedthe original 1934 fresco for the Public Works of Art Project, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal,in the foyer of Memorial Hall.

It depicts slavery in Americaand has long been the subject of campus protests and discussions between the student body andUK administration.

It is one of 42 frescoes amid the15,000 pieces of art commissioned under the Public Works of Art Project, according to the Berry complaint.

The mural inside Memorial Hall on the University of Kentucky campus.(Photo: Mark Cornelison | UK photo)

In 2018, UK commissionedPhiladelphia artist Karyn Olivierto create a new piece of art in Memorial Hall, called "Witness," which was meant to create a dialogue between the two.

"My piece could be consideredcorrective, but for me it's really about providing a space for discourse," Olivier said at the time. The National Coalition Against Censorship's concern is that if O'Hanlon's fresco is removed, Olivier's work will be for naught.

Last month, Capilouto announced he'd remove the mural amid national protests against systemic racism. In a letter to the campus community, he wrote that the university's prior solutions to the mural problem "for many of our students, have been a roadblock to reconciliation, rather than a path toward healing."

The frescowas previously covered in 2015 and later was unveiled with added information for context in 2017.

Neither of these moves stopped a 2019 overnight sit-in in UK's Main Building as students protested the mural and food insecurities among disadvantaged students.

Amid those protests, Olivier wrote an open letter to the campus community, introducing herself as "the black immigrant female gay artist" who took on the "problematic" mural.

Previously: Campus issues that led to UK protest were simmering for a while, students say

More coverage: UK adds artwork next to mural with racial images to deepen the dialogue

"When I first thought of what to do, my initial instinct was 'why not remove the black and brown figures from the mural, leaving only ghost-like shapes?'" she wrote. "However, erasing and (in effect) defacing a work of art is a less powerful gesture than confronting what is there."

More recently, the National Coalition Against Censorship letter to Capilouto includes support from Olivier: "The Universitys decision to remove the OHanlon mural also renders my workWitnessblind and mute," she is quoted as saying in the letter.

"It cannot exist without the past it sought to confront. And it is ironic that the decision to censor the original artwork has, in one fell swoop, censored my installation, too.

The Black Student Advisory Council, whose members have been outspoken against the O'Hanlon mural in the past, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reach breaking news reporter Sarah Ladd at sladd@courier-journal.com. Follow her on Twitter at@ladd_sarah.Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.

Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2020/07/06/wendell-berry-joins-lawsuit-keep-university-kentucky-racist-mural/5384495002/

See the original post:

Wendell Berry joins lawsuit to stop University of Kentucky from removing controversial mural - Courier Journal