Pilot Point is a tiny town in Grayson County, Texas on Highway 377, which is my neck of the woods. In 2003, a local business commissioned a mural for the side of his business that caused a pretty big stink across the country.
Neigh. Not this one.
Not that one, of course. Nobody in this town would object to a picture of a horsie. This place is smack dab in the middle of an area dubbed “Horse Country,” and the highways and county roads are lined with miniature ranches. Horses are big business here.
A horse is an OK subject for art for the people in this town, but a “bare, nekkid lady” is not OK. This, y’all, is the Bible Belt.
There is an art gallery in the old Farmer’s and Merchant’s Bank that has been owned by a man named Wes Miller for the last 35 years. I’ve always enjoyed stopping there to shop, for he has that old bank building filled with the most marvelous antiques as well as artworks by local artists. It’s always a treat to visit.
Banking on art
Miller commissioned local artist Justine Wollaston to paint this picture (click the photo for a larger view).
Eve, but obviously Pilot Point is NOT Eden
The work features an enormous hand pointing at an apple, and a classic female nude on the other side eying the same apple. Ms. Wollaston claimed the mural depicted her interpretation of “the Biblical narrative of Eve at the moment she made the choice to partake of the forbidden fruit.”
Boy Howdy! That created quite a stir. Didn’t anybody read the Bible? Eve didn’t have clothes — did she? Oh wait, I remember. Eve had a fig leaf or two. Quicker than a duck jumps on a June Bug the local police served Miller with notice that this mural violated a Texas law that makes it a criminal act to display “harmful material” to minors. Under that law, “harmful material” is
“material whose dominant theme taken as a whole
(A) appeals to the prurient interest of a minor, in sex, nudity, or excretion;
(B) is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors; and
(C) is utterly without redeeming social value for minors.”
Miller was faced with taking down the mural or going to jail. He compromised by putting crime scene tape over the offending nipples. When my husband and I went to see it back then, the crime scene tape had been replaced by plastic flowers. The city sued Miller, Miller sued back, The ACLU got involved — it was small town drama at its best and it made national news.
I never heard the outcome of it all, but Eve presides in all her glory now. In fact, Miller commissioned another nude painting by the same artist for a building under it in 2005. It depicts Lady Liberty lying naked on an American flag, with a banner partially draped across her chest. It was clearly an act of defiance, but it made a muddled mess out of the artwork (again, click for a larger view).
Show me one, or show me the other, but don't jumble it.
I like both of them, but I think it’s a crime crying shame that they are on same side of the building. What do you think? Is this artwork criminal?
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I actually love that he chose crime scene tape – I think it expresses his feelings very well.
Robin from Israel´s last blog ..Apricot Orchard
Crime scene tape was fun. I thought the flower “pasties” were good, too.