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My 2 Cents: Public Art And Public Scrutiny

Appreciating art is a subjective exercise. Public art, well, that gets even more delicate. And when you add in political correctness, forget about it.

Exhibit A: A simple little mural by a student on a high school wall in Rhode Island. In it she shows a little boy growing into a teenager, young adult, and then husband/father.

I mean look at it, just makes my blood boil! Nothing? You're not incensed by the depiction of the traditional nuclear family or the two wedding rings above the family?

Then you're insensitive, because some members of the Pilgrim High School community thought it was inappropriate, told the assistant principal who ordered it painted over. They said it's not representative of all the different family experiences students are having.

True, not even the artist herself, her parents are divorced, but she still honors the idea of the traditional family unit.

After some heat was applied someone came to their senses and decided the young artist could finish the mural. I'm speechless.