Story Archive

Art of Fear, Fear of Art

Students chose the topics for the Westfield (N.J.) High School art show, said student Kayla McMillan. “The students were allowed to choose either side of the arguments and were told they would not be in trouble for their own opinions.” They did get a taste of controversy, however, when their silkscreens on police brutality went viral. One retired cop in Texas who was born in the school’s New Jersey community thought it was particularly “frightening” that the school district brought younger students to see the art show. She told a reporter: “Showing these pictures to kids could cause them to be afraid of police, and I think that’s wrong.” But school board member Brendan Galligan said: “I believe the display to be in bad taste, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it, or something similar, should ever be banned in the future. That’s a slippery slope for government (even the local school board) to go down. We need to work with our students, to change the perception that the police are the enemy.” (AC/Newark Star-Ledger) ...If you want to change perceptions, try changing reality.