ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Latest on a set of murals at the University of New Mexico that have been protested for their depictions of Hispanics and Native Americans (all times local):
4:50 p.m.
A University of New Mexico official says the school’s president and provost want a set of Great Depression-era murals to be covered amid complaints about the depiction of Hispanics and Native Americans in one of the pieces on campus.
Alex Lubin, associate provost for faculty development, said Monday that the proposal would temporarily address decades-old concerns.
The image at the center of the dispute shows a blonde, blue-eyed man holding the hands of a faceless Hispanic man on one side and a faceless Native American on the other.
The proposal to cover the murals with curtains must go before the Regents Historic Preservation Committee for consideration.
The New Deal’s Public Works of Art Project commissioned the murals in 1939 to depict Native Americans, Hispanics and whites of New Mexico.
For years, the murals have been the subject of protests - and sometimes vandalism.
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12:15 p.m.
A set of Depression-era murals at New Mexico’s largest university are being targeted by some faculty and students for their depictions of Hispanic and Native Americans.
KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reports some students want the “West Wing Murals” at the University of New Mexico’s Zimmerman Library removed.
Taos artist Kenneth Adams in 1939 was commissioned by the New Deal’s Public Works of Art Project to paint images depicting Native Americans, Hispanics and whites of New Mexico. The murals also were paid for by a Carnegie Corporation grant.
But the murals have been the subject of protests for years.
A task force is investigation options into the mural’s future
New Deal programs put Americans to work in public works projects, such as the Adams murals, in response to the Great Depression.
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Information from: KRQE-TV, http://www.krqe.com
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