Biola mural said to be offensive to some
By Sandra T. Molina, Staff Writer
ART: Students walk past the 40-foot-tall mural of Jesus at Biola University in La Mirada on Thursday May 15, 2008. The planned refurbishing of a 40-foot mural of Jesus, called "The Word" has reignited a controversy on campus. Some say it should be allowed to fade away out of existence, while others say the artwork should be preserved. (Staff Photo by Keith Durflinger)
LA MIRADA - In the 18 years since a prominent Los Angeles muralist painted it, the 40-foot depiction of Jesus Christ on a Biola University building has sparked controversy.
Students of color say they are offended by Jesus being portrayed as white.
The latest round in the controversy began earlier this month when university officials began considering to refurbish the mural, titled "The Word."
Biola officials decided Thursday to delay a decision on restoring the mural for a year.
"I met with the president (Barry Corey), and we decided to put the matter on hold to extend discussions throughout the Biola community," said Provost Gary Miller.
full article at: http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_9289873
This is not the first time that this odd controversy about this mural has taken place, I call it odd simply for the luck of the better word, I is hard to be serious imagining Jesus in wide pants and "lapty" holding on to balalaika being all that Russian as I, as Russian born should desire him to be...
10 years ago this controversy resolved in the following
"A meeting was held in which the students were able to approach and voice their feelings about the message that the Jesus Mural portrayed. Kent Twitchell was very sympathetic to the students' position. He explained to them that he had done his homework before deciding to paint the apparently white Jesus; he had intended the portrayal of Jesus to be based off of a Russian Jew. It was not an arbitrary decision. He proceeded to say that the students just had to reassure him that they were offended and stumbled because of the image and he would be back the next day with a contractor to put up scaffolding and paint the wall white over the mural.
This caused the students to stop and reassess what they wanted in bringing up the controversy. Surely they didn't want to destroy the image - there was intent behind the specific portrayal of Jesus - and besides, it wasn't necessarily bad art. Twitchell gave them an option that helped to solve their dilemma; he proposed that the students show their diversity by putting up more icons that accurately presented the face of Biola that they wanted to show."
Full Article at: http://dismantledthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/10/icons-today-whose-fault.html
Letting imagination run a bit, I begin to see multiple denominations Mohammeds runing around stumbling over very confused Buddahs, fighting Shivas, etc., etc.
Wouldn't it be a bit "ODD"? So Why stop with Jesus, then?
iLia Anossov (fresco)
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