Maine artist laments removal of her mural

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011 / Updated: Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011 06:14 PM
Maine artist laments removal of her mural
By CLARKE CANFIELD - Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine --

An artist whose 36-foot labor-history mural was removed from the Maine Labor Department said the artwork should be returned to the agency's walls and suggested the state should hang her late father's Bronze Star in its place until then.

Artist Judy Taylor, of Tremont, said it was "heartbreaking" to learn the controversy may have been sparked by an anonymous letter that compared her work to North Korean propaganda. Taylor said in a statement Wednesday that her late father served in the Korean War and received a Bronze Star.

Taylor spent a year working on the mural for the Department of Labor using a $60,000 grant. It was installed in 2008 but was removed last weekend after Gov. Paul LePage said it was biased toward organized labor and out of line with his pro-business agenda.

"Perhaps we should hang my father's Bronze Star for his service in Korea in the now-empty reception area of the Maine Department of Labor until the mural is returned, as a symbol of the importance of remembering our history and not shuttering it away," Taylor wrote.

Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/03/30/2950903/maine-artist-laments-removal-of.html

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Judy Taylor's mural
Hundreds protest mural removal; artwork could land in Portland
By Jeff Tuttle, BDN Staff
Posted March 25, 2011, at 1:22 p.m.
Last modified March 26, 2011, at 7:31 a.m.

AUGUSTA, Maine — More than 250 demonstrators crowded into the offices of the Maine Department of Labor on Friday morning to protest Gov. Paul LePage’s planned removal of a labor-themed mural from the building’s lobby.

The small lobby that houses the actual mural, however, was no match for the crowd, which instead was forced to line long stretches of the hallway to listen to speakers express their thoughts — ranging from confusion to dismay to outrage — at the Republican governor’s order.

“This mural belongs to the people, not the governor, and we want it to stay where it is,” Robert Shetterly, a Brooksville artist, told the crowd, which at times broke into anti-LePage chants including “Recall Paul!” and “Art in, Paul out!”

More:
http://new.bangordailynews.com.nyud.net:8090/2011/03/25/politics/hundreds-crowd-department-of-labor-offices-to-protest-mural-removal/?ref=mostReadBox

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