Critics call the art centering on George Washington racist, while its defenders say it depicts American history realistically and should not be censored.
On Friday, the alumni association of San Francisco’s George Washington High School filed a lawsuit to block the school district from covering up the controversial mural in the school’s lobby.
“We are going to actively pursue legal, political and other options to preserve the mural,” alumni association vice president Lope Yap said. The lawsuit contends that the San Francisco Unified School District failed to conduct an environmental review before deciding to obscure the mural by placing permanent wood panels over it.
The fresco artwork, artist Victor Arnautoff’s “Life of Washington,” depicts America’s first president at various stages of his life. Two of its more polarizing scenes include pioneers standing over the dead body of a Native American and slaves working at Washington’s estate. Activists have said the mural was offensive for its depiction of Native Americans and African Americans.
“I am a great granddaughter of a slave. I don’t need a mural in my school or office to tell me I’m a slave,” teacher Virginia Marshall had said previously.
But the alumni association argues that the mural, despite its difficult images, does not promote a racist point of view, simply depicting past events without favor or criticism.
“I ask which part of the mural they are talking about,” Yap said. “I contend none of it is racist. The images are being misconstrued. People might have a visceral or traumatic response to them, but the mural is not glorifying anything.”
“They might talk about how (Washington) had slaves at Mount Vernon, or that he broke treaties. But aren’t those in the mural?” Yap also said.
The school board in August voted 4-3 to place panels over the mural at a reported cost of $825,000. In June, it had voted to paint over the mural but reversed course following public outcry against that idea.
Russian artist Arnautoff, who spent some 40 years working in the Bay Area, painted the 13-panel, 1,600-square-foot mural directly onto a school wall in 1936, the same year that the school was founded.
In August, following the board’s original decision to paint over the mural, the public was allowed to view the art for themselves. Amy Anderson, a San Francisco public school teacher who is of Native American descent, was among the visitors to back the board’s decision.
“Reparations need to happen so the kids know, even though this has been there for 80 years, your voice matters, you can stand up for change and change is the one constant,” said Anderson, whose son is enrolled at the school.
The controversy isn’t new: Similar complaints were levied in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. The solution at that time was to commission artist Dewey Crumpler to paint three “response” art panels depicting the African American and Native American experiences in a different light.
The Coalition to Protect Public Art, which was founded following the most recent backlash, is looking to put a measure on San Francisco’s March 2020 ballot to keep the artwork in place.
Jon Golinger, the coalition’s executive director, said Arnautoff’s work needs to be put in proper context.
“We need information about the artist’s intent, the content of the murals, different interpretations — and that information needs to be onsite so that a student going to class can take a moment, or a parent visiting the school has some information that provides context. As of right now, the murals remain naked. There’s not even a simple plaque explaining it.”
A number of high-profile supporters have also spoken up for preservation
“I hope that this board would leave that mural alone,” said the Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP. “It tells the whole truth about Mr. Washington’s being complicit in the slave trade.”
“Art has to make us feel uncomfortable,” actor Danny Glover, a Washington High graduate. “That’s what art does.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
