KlownBaby19
5th June 2010, 05:57
i live about 20 minutes from this town and i used to love the town till this shit happened. I think something should be done to stop this
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — A new mural at Miller Valley Elementary School that depicts children of several races using "green" transportation methods appears to have struck a nerve among some Prescott residents.
Since the late-May unveiling of the "Go on Green" mural, dozens of local residents have expressed their views — both pro and con — about the painting that covers two exterior walls at the school at Prescott's Four-Points intersection.
An article about the unveiling on The Daily Courier's website generated about 60 online reader comments, while Prescott Unified School District and Prescott City Hall reported getting calls.
Although many of the comments on the Courier's website offer unqualified admiration for the mural, others are harshly critical, using words such as "tacky," ''ugly" and "ghetto."
The subtext in some of the comments: race.
R.E. Wall, director of the Prescott Downtown Mural Project, described weeks of tense working conditions for the "Mural Mice," the group of artists responsible for the Miller Valley mural and several others around town.
As the Miller Valley mural took shape, Wall said, he and the other artists working at the site heard regular racial slurs from the passengers of cars driving by.
"The pressure stayed up consistently," Wall said. "We had two months of cars shouting at us."
He attributes the start of the racial controversy to recent comments that Prescott City Councilman Steve Blair made on his KYCA radio talk show about the mural.
On his May 21 show, for instance, Blair said, "I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's president of the United States today and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families — who I have been very good friends with for years — to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'"
On Wednesday, Blair again emphasized that "I'm not a racist by any stretch of the imagination, but whenever people start talking about diversity, it's a word I can't stand."
Blair questions whether the mural is representative of Prescott, noting, "The focus doesn't need to be on what's different; the focus doesn't need to be on the minority all the time."
Blair said he has received a number of calls from long-time Prescott residents who ask, "Who authorized that graffiti on the wall?" He added: "What these people don't like is somebody forcing diversity down their throats."
Wall said that the "pressure" reached such a level this past week that his group has been asked to lighten the faces of the mural's main subject, as well as the other children in the mural.
"They want us to lighten up the forehead and the cheeks (of the boy in the center), and make him look like he is coming into the light," Wall said, adding that school officials asked to have all of the children's faces appear more "radiant and happy."
That work began this past Sunday, when Wall and co-artist Pamela Smith began lightening up a portion of the boy's forehead. The work will continue during the next several days.
Blair said that even though he believes the Mural Mice are "truly artists," and that their other murals have been successful, "Art is in the eye of the beholder, but I say (the Miller Valley mural) looks like graffiti in L.A."
He also questions the choice of location for the mural. "From my standpoint, it's the most visible intersection in the City of Prescott, and one of the most historic buildings, and they're painting a mural on it?"
In addition, Blair suggested that the mural creators might not have made a good enough case in their storytelling for the mural. "I don't see anything that ties the community into that mural," he said.
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — A new mural at Miller Valley Elementary School that depicts children of several races using "green" transportation methods appears to have struck a nerve among some Prescott residents.
Since the late-May unveiling of the "Go on Green" mural, dozens of local residents have expressed their views — both pro and con — about the painting that covers two exterior walls at the school at Prescott's Four-Points intersection.
An article about the unveiling on The Daily Courier's website generated about 60 online reader comments, while Prescott Unified School District and Prescott City Hall reported getting calls.
Although many of the comments on the Courier's website offer unqualified admiration for the mural, others are harshly critical, using words such as "tacky," ''ugly" and "ghetto."
The subtext in some of the comments: race.
R.E. Wall, director of the Prescott Downtown Mural Project, described weeks of tense working conditions for the "Mural Mice," the group of artists responsible for the Miller Valley mural and several others around town.
As the Miller Valley mural took shape, Wall said, he and the other artists working at the site heard regular racial slurs from the passengers of cars driving by.
"The pressure stayed up consistently," Wall said. "We had two months of cars shouting at us."
He attributes the start of the racial controversy to recent comments that Prescott City Councilman Steve Blair made on his KYCA radio talk show about the mural.
On his May 21 show, for instance, Blair said, "I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's president of the United States today and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families — who I have been very good friends with for years — to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'"
On Wednesday, Blair again emphasized that "I'm not a racist by any stretch of the imagination, but whenever people start talking about diversity, it's a word I can't stand."
Blair questions whether the mural is representative of Prescott, noting, "The focus doesn't need to be on what's different; the focus doesn't need to be on the minority all the time."
Blair said he has received a number of calls from long-time Prescott residents who ask, "Who authorized that graffiti on the wall?" He added: "What these people don't like is somebody forcing diversity down their throats."
Wall said that the "pressure" reached such a level this past week that his group has been asked to lighten the faces of the mural's main subject, as well as the other children in the mural.
"They want us to lighten up the forehead and the cheeks (of the boy in the center), and make him look like he is coming into the light," Wall said, adding that school officials asked to have all of the children's faces appear more "radiant and happy."
That work began this past Sunday, when Wall and co-artist Pamela Smith began lightening up a portion of the boy's forehead. The work will continue during the next several days.
Blair said that even though he believes the Mural Mice are "truly artists," and that their other murals have been successful, "Art is in the eye of the beholder, but I say (the Miller Valley mural) looks like graffiti in L.A."
He also questions the choice of location for the mural. "From my standpoint, it's the most visible intersection in the City of Prescott, and one of the most historic buildings, and they're painting a mural on it?"
In addition, Blair suggested that the mural creators might not have made a good enough case in their storytelling for the mural. "I don't see anything that ties the community into that mural," he said.