This is an complicated problem that a lot of older buildings are thinking about now. So many older buildings were painted with murals that are lovely, and may have been viewed as appropriate when they were created; but looking back now, we can see how images of people is not always showing people as free, equal, and deserving of the respect that everyone should enjoy.

We have a lot of members who have some older buildings, with interesting murals. It may be worth looking to see if they represent the dignity of everyone, and consider some ideas about them if that is not the case.

Below is an excerpt from an article in American Libraries magazines; you can read the entire article here.

“In the 1930s and 1940s, federal programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) paid artists and artisans to create thousands of artworks. Some of those works ended up on display in public buildings such as libraries.

Roughly eight decades later, some of the images depicted in those murals are now recognized as racist. Deciding whether to remove, alter, or retain these murals can be challenging; not all stakeholders agree on a course of action.

At University of Oregon’s (UO) Knight Library in Eugene, four stairwell murals commissioned under the WPA have been the center of scrutiny for many years. These murals include visual hierarchies in which Brown people using early tools appear at the bottom, while white people with items such as violins and motorized engines appear at the top. One of the murals also includes text invoking the preservation of “racial heritage.”

UO Provost and Senior Vice President Patrick Phillips says these murals are inappropriate in a library setting, which he calls the heart of student engagement on campus: “It feels like the most inclusive, welcoming place, so to have these additional barriers is not okay.”

The murals, which date to the library’s 1937 construction, have been a flashpoint for activists; in 2018, for example, an unknown person used red paint to strike out the words “racial heritage.”

The university previously attempted to address the situation by installing explanatory panels to contextualize the artworks. Protests in recent years, however, have pushed the administration to take more drastic action. Because the pieces are affixed to the walls, they cannot be removed without damaging the building. So, after a conservator assessment, the university committed to covering the paintings with aluminum panels, reportedly at a cost of just over $30,000. The murals were covered in September.

It’s not only students who object to racist artwork. At University of New Mexico’s (UNM) Zimmerman Library in Albuquerque, staff members have come out in opposition to four murals collectively known as Three Peoples that were commissioned in 1939 by the federal Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). The murals show Native Americans creating traditional crafts and performing manual labor, while white people are depicted as scientists and doctors. In one of the murals, a white man with clear facial features is flanked by a faceless Latino man and a faceless Native American man.

“Students can go study wherever they want, but the staff works there. They don’t really have any control over their environment,” says Assata Zerai, UNM vice president for equity and inclusion. Zerai also notes that many staffers have told her they feel that the mural contributes to a hostile work environment. “I have not had one person tell me we need the murals, but I’ve had hundreds of people ask me why they aren’t gone yet,” she says.

Earlier this year, library staff started an online petition—which by early September had drawn nearly 1,000 signatures—to have the murals removed. Also by September, UNM had submitted an application for the removal of the murals—which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places—to the state of New Mexico. In the meantime, they have been covered.”

You can read the entire article here.