Fri Apr 08, 2011 at 06:00:00 AM EDT
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(8pm~
- promoted by RiaD)
Mural at Coit Tower, San Francisco |
| slksfca :: Friday Open Thoughts: Labor Murals |
Everyone has probably heard of the recent removal of the Department of Labor mural in Maine at the instigation of Governor Paul LePage, "on the grounds that the image is biased against business owners." But it's even worse:
Additionally, the state would be renaming eight conference rooms, many of which commemorate former labor leaders and one honoring the first female U.S. Cabinet secretary.
I recently had a look at photos of the censored art at the website of the artist, Judy Taylor, and was reminded of a set of murals I know well, those at Coit Tower here in San Francisco.
One of the first of the New Deal mural projects, the Coit Tower murals were also very controversial, though censorship was limited to the removal of a hammer-and-sickle, "the communist symbol which appeared in a series of medallions illustrating the range of political philosophies existing in America."
The San Francisco Parks Commission, the agency which administered the tower, concluded that American philosophies did not range that far left on the political spectrum and summarily locked the tower until the offending symbol was chipped from the wall.
At that very moment in history New York's Rockefeller Center completely removed a similar mural which Diego Rivera had created for that new edifice. (San Francisco's experience may have been different because of the City's strong ties to the labor movement.) Mr. Rivera himself created four murals in San Francisco, including one at the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange (!!).
Anyway, here are two more from Coit Tower:
Additional images and commentary can be found here.
Welcome to Friday Open Thoughts. Have a great weekend! |
