It’s pathetic that the Denver police union would find censorship of student art — and this is what it was — to be part of its mission.
“I think it’s encouraging that a young person could incorporate topicality and headlines into their art.” Paulson said. “That’s what art does. Art reflects real lives and real concerns.”
Here is her artwork:
(major h/t to seanmalloy)
Here are the two pieces she referenced.
Reminds me of U.N. officials hanging a blue curtain over a tapestry reproduction of Picasso’s “Guernica” or prude du jour Monica Goodling (remember her?) installing the screen in front of C. Paul Jennewein’s “Spirit of Justice” statue, presumably to save John Ashcroft the “embarrassment” of being photographed with, gasp, an exposed breast.
even though authorities insisted that the girl was not pressured to remove her work
I’m sure the girl and her mother appreciated the increased, some would say constant, police patrols past her house following the opening of the exhibit.
And being Latina, the 15-16-year-old girl also never considered that keeping her piece in the best-of-city show would result in a deluge of death threats against herself and her family.
Powerful Art! Congrats to the student. Congrats to the school district for keeping student’s identity private.
Rotten tomatoes to the police union. If the shoe fits…
“[A]uthorities insist that the teenager has not been pressured.…”
No pressure whatsoever.
Just a meeting with the principal.
And the school superintendent.
And the mayor.
And the police chief.
Did I mention the police unions?
And the translator?
See – no pressure whatsoever.
“She’s passionate about her art, but didn’t want to make trouble,” Mitchell said…To hear her out, Denver’s mayor, police chief and school superintendent arranged a private meeting Friday with the 10th grader and her mother, who was provided with a Spanish-language translator for the encounter in the principal’s office
Yea, no pressure on a 15 year-old who clearly was the most mature person present…
Pupils were asked to choose a master work of art, research it and portray it in a new context to reflect contemporary times.
The student chose the Spanish painter Francisco Goya’s "The Third of May 1808…also was heavily influenced by Michael D’Antuono’s 2014 work “A Tale of Two Hoodies”
Hope the young lady’s talent is noted and brings her a measure of acclaim.
jw1
Where all all the righties complaining about political correctness? Where are all the righties complaining about the police being a bunch of thin skinned oversensitive precious snowflakes?
Once again, intelligently distilled. Thank you.
Emerging artist sufficiently chilled. “If the shoe fits, wear it”, law enforcment folk. No one would consider such comparisons as valid if your ranks hadn’t created, and/or tolerated, the actions behind them.
Some of those that work forces
Are the same that burn crosses
Killing in the Name
Where do people think Rage got the idea for this song?
Can you imagine the storm that would be raised if President Obama invited the young woman and her family to the White House to commend her for her creativity?
I don’t expect it to happen, but it’s nice to imagine a just world where that might be more thinkable.
Sorry, folks. But, the little princess has no clothes.
I have no criticism for the fact that she did this work, the fact that she is somewhat aware of these issues. That is praiseworthy: that she is paying attention to the world around her and seems to have some grasp, some awareness of these very real and harsh aspects of the society & times she lives in.
But, calling this “creative” is empty bullshit. It is 98% plagiarism of someone else’s creativity and work. Further, she almost entirely failed at the intent of the base assignment: there is so little relationship to Goya’s work that nobody in history (past or present) would observe any similarity unless very specifically led by the hand and told that there is supposed to be some “reinterpretation.”
The teacher needs a serious lecture on critically discussing the actual meaning of vocabulary with her students, and the fact that vocabulary has actual meaning for a reason. At the forefront of said discussion needs to be a very critical and in-depth research of the meanings of “plagiarism” and “reinterpretation.”
If one of my students had produced this from the assignment given, I would have given them a chance to hear the above criticism, learn from it, and produce a second, better effort with some personal creativity and depth. Otherwise, this work as presented isn’t really worth a “C” grade. Especially of a 10th grader; I’ve seen better work (technically) from junior high school students.
Did she make a political statement? Yes. Did she make a social statement? Observation? Yes. That is worthy of note and praise.
Calling this “creative” is bullshit.
Even so, she should have been supported and encouraged NOT to remove the piece, to stand by her work and defend it … although, the teacher needs to have it addressed in her next performance review that this incident demonstrates a concerning negligence in her job description as a “teacher” and her skills in “guidance” when it comes to imparting and explaining the core of her lessons.
I agree. I was surprised when I scrolled down from her picture to the “source” paintings and saw that her painting was a close copy of Jenewein’s powerful painting. A 15 year old is old enough to understand plagerism. The reference to Goya is only in the child’s hands being raised instead of holding a candy bar. A 15-year old is old enough to understand that. Some effort on the part of the teacher in guiding her to come up with a little more original thinking would have been nice. I have seen young artists’ ruined by too much praise of mediocre or poor work. However, that said, I do not agree with the piling on by the Denver police, etc. She was representing an issue that was important to her.
So apparently the police will defend the law but not the Constitution.
I like the work. It’s bound to be controversial, but the police criticism is butt-hurt histrionics from thin-skinned cops.
I realize this is an AP story but reprinting anything that that refers to that piece of shit as a “neighborhood watch volunteer” is a failure of journalism. The neighborhood watch wanted nothing to do with him. Law enforcement told him to stop. He was a “crazed, defiant vigilante” the end.
Fredo’s favorite Bushie…
Check @seanmalloy’s link to Denver newspaper…
Take care dismounting your high horse…