A judge has rejected a lawsuit brought by award-winning authors Wendell Berry and his wife to prevent the removal of a mural at the University of Kentucky that has been the subject of protests over its depiction of black people and Native Americans. However, this ruling also protects works of art.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020 after University President Eli Capilouto announced the mural’s removal.
Painted in the 1930s by Anne Rice O’Hanlon, this fresco mural depicts Lexington’s history in a series of scenes, including a black man and woman planting tobacco and a Native American man holding a tomahawk. Efforts to remove the mural have been underway since at least 2006.
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The order filed Monday says the Berrys do not have legal standing to sue, but also notes the historical significance of the piece, saying that removing it would be a “restriction” for Kentuckians. He also said it would be an “insult” to the government.
“The O’Hanlon Mural does not glorify the abhorrent practices of slavery or the dispossession of Native American territory. Rather, it represents what Ms. O’Hanlon was directed to create: a history of Kentucky from 1792 to the 1920s. ,” the judgment said.
A photo of one of the buildings at the University of Kentucky, a public university in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. (St. Petersburg)
Because the mural was painted directly onto the plaster, removing it would lead to its destruction, so the ruling ordered the university to keep the mural in its current state pending an appeal.
“We have stated that the university’s intent is to maintain and relocate the mural, and that remains our position. We are pleased that the judge has dismissed the lawsuit,” spokesman Jay Blanton told Lexington. told the Herald-Leader.
Tanya Berry told the newspaper that she had not yet read the decision, but that keeping the mural was “what we wanted.” According to her complaint, she is Mr. O’Hanlon’s maternal niece and the oldest living heir.
“I’m glad the frescoes will remain, because to remove them would mean destroying them,” she said.
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Wendell Berry is known for his poems, novels, and essays on sustainable agriculture and other topics. She was awarded the National Medal of Humanities by then-President Barack Obama in 2011.
