'I felt kind of betrayed': Alta. school covers up mural of two young men kissing
Canada News
'I felt kind of betrayed': Alta. school covers up mural of two young men kissing
Administrators at an Alberta junior/senior high school are facing criticism after they covered up a painting on the school's wall that depicts two young men kissing. The mural painted by 16-year-old student Kaela Wilton looks to become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate in Alberta around gay rights and the role schools should take on the matter. Wilton says her art teacher and the school's principal approved the concept of two young men embracing and kissing when she pitched the idea a few weeks ago. But James Trodden, the principal of Onoway Junior-Senior High School outside Edmonton, says the cover-up of the painting lasted only half a day last week and that further consultation with "stakeholders" is required before a lasting decision can be made on covering it up or moving forward with the mural on display at the school. Wilton says she came to school Thursday to find her mural covered up with a billboard, onto which someone later affixed a notice in multi-coloured lettering that read: "Come as you are?"
I felt kind of betrayed. It was a huge board. It covered the whole painting. It was kind of shock. I wanted to do something controversial. Gay rights are something I've always felt strongly about.
High school artist Kaela Wilton
Wilton says her school was "fully aware" of what she was painting. A Facebook group entitled "Petition for OHS painting," created Friday in support of her mural, now has close to 200 members, with some of expressing their confusion and outrage. They don't understand why Wilton's painting was initially given approval and then covered up, CTV News reports. Trodden says plans to speak students, parents and other community members before he makes a final decision on the future of the mural, CTV reports. "We had looked at that and said, you know, kissing isn't allowed in the school so the painting was covered for about half a day," he said. Wilton has been allowed to create her own cover-up for the mural in the meantime. In December, Alberta Premier Jim Prentice put a controversial bill on hold that would have allowed gay students to form support groups with school approval.
I want the comfortable to feel uncomfortable and the uncomfortable to feel comfortable.
Kaela Wilton