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News Article
Murals at center of controversy
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Some faculty members and students at New Mexico’s largest university want a set of Depression-era murals to be removed over their depiction of Hispanics and Native Americans in one of the pieces.

The image at the center of the dispute shows a white man holding the hands of a faceless Hispanic man on one side and a faceless Native American on the other. The other pieces inside Zimmerman library at the University of New Mexico depict accomplishments of Native Americans and Hispanics.

“We have heard from several faculty, staff and students that the murals make them feel excluded and attacked,” University of New Mexico President Garnett S. Stokes wrote to task force members examining the issue. “We know that many people enjoy the murals, and we remain committed to a solution that ensures that everyone feels welcome at UNM.’”

The murals were created by Taos artist Kenneth Adams in 1939 under a federal program used to combat the Great Depression.

For years, the murals have been the subject of protests — and sometimes vandalism.

“I do believe I see a hint of colonialism,” said Letisha Bustamante, who opposes the murals.

Student Zachary Martinez said he sees the beauty in the art. “I think it helps represent New Mexico well,”’ he said.

Adams was commissioned by the New Deal’s Public Works of Art Project to paint images depicting Native Americans, Hispanics and whites of New Mexico.

A task force is investigating options for the murals that were also paid for with a Carnegie Corporation grant. A recommendation to the Regents Historic Preservation Committee is expected soon.

University officials say the murals are part of the school’s historic character, so any changes would have to be reviewed by the committee and the Board of Regents.

The library posted a history of some of its artwork for its 75th anniverasyr in 2011 that provides more information on the murals and artist Kenneth Adams. “Adams, the last artist to join the Taos Society of Artists, came to the University as Artist in Residence through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation. His assignment was to teach painting in the Department of Fine Arts and to paint a series of murals in the new library. The rear wall of the main lobby, today’s Grand Salon, included a central opening for the service desk flanked by four large niches crowned with corbeled wooden frames. The lower part of the niches was occupied by the card catalog, leaving the upper areas for four murals,” the article said.

Then president James F. Zimmerman wanted the murals to represent “each of the three major cultures in New Mexico and their contributions to civilization, with the fourth mural depicting the union of the three cultures in the Southwest.”

10/12/2018
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