Beyond the Controversy: The George Washington High School Murals and the Removal of Public Art

The controversy over the Victor Arnautoff murals at George Washington High School brings to San Francisco the public discourse over public art that is interpreted to portray, or actually glorifies, a narrow Eurocentric view of history. This panel will open with a brief visual presentation on both the Arnautoff murals and the multicultural murals painted in response to them in the early 1970s and then discuss their interpretation and effective culturally-sensitive ways to educate through art. It will also explore how the contemporary mural movement portrays provocative themes and how to preserve progressive public art from censorship. The panel will include Robert Cherny (Arnautoff biographer), Lope Yap, Jr. (Washington High Alumni Association), Dewey Crumpler (painter of the 1971 murals at the George Washington High School), and Tamaka Bailey (a member of the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation). The panel will be moderated by Harvey Smith (Living New Deal and National New Deal Preservation Association).

Click here to watch – Arnautoff Presentations: Beyond The Controversy: The GWGS & The Removal of Public Art (7/9/19 Presentation)