This painting, by 10th-grade student at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, was part of an art show in the lobby of Denver s Webb Building. After complaints by citizens and many in the law-enforcement community, the student asked to have the painting taken down. (Courtesy of Denver7)
Re: Denver student’s artwork removed from show for KKK cop portrayal, March 24 news story.
I am one of the many citizens who expressed to our elected officials my anger at the recent painting portraying police as racists. I personally went into the Webb Building to look at it myself. As the son of a former Denver police officer, I felt both anger and sadness. My family and I have always been proud of the service that my father gave to the citizens of Denver and I am deeply troubled by any attempt to portray our police officers with the broad brush of racism and the Ku Klux Klan.
I personally volunteer much of my time to the creation of a Denver Police Museum with the goal of connecting cops and the community. I have gotten to know many of the current officers and witnessed firsthand their heartfelt dedication to serve and protect.
This so-called artwork does nothing more than contribute to hate and anger and make the job of the cop on the beat even more dangerous and difficult. I personally am glad to see it removed from the Webb Building.
Michael Hesse, Denver
This letter was published in the April 3 edition.Former Denver safety manager Butch Montoya does not appear to understand much about the place of art in society when he says, This is not freedom of expression but an attempt to peddle hateful and racist trash as art!
Sorry, sir, this young woman s work is exactly what you have said it is not.
Among the many things art does, an important one is to reflect what is happening in society and stimulate discussion about the important issues we face. One of those issues is police violence, like it or not.
Rather than condemning the artist, let us instead consider what is happening in our country that impels a high school student to create such a work.
Lawrence Hass, Denver
Re: Denver mayor, police chief meet with student behind KKK cop portrayal, March 26 news story.
I have a few questions for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Police Robert Chief White, acting Denver Public Schools Superintendent Susana Cordova, and Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy Principal Pete Castillo. During your feel-good discussion and teachable moment with the 10th-grade artist, did you talk about taking personal responsibility for one s actions? About the potential negative consequences of one s actions? About being concerned about people s feelings other than her own? Or, that the freedom of speech and expression we so value is not absolute? That there are limits, both legal and moral?
Stephen B. Pacetti, Lakewood
This letter was published in the April 3 edition.In a city that has paid out millions in wrongful death and police/sheriff excessive force lawsuits, it should not be surprising that many people have a negative view of police. And when the district attorney s office fails to hold the offending officers accountable, it makes the situation worse.
For the mayor, chief of police and two high-level school administrators to meet with a student who produced art they don t like seems like gross overreaction and intimidation.
The artwork may be inappropriate for displaying in the Webb Building, but it should have been handled by the school in a much more low-key manner. The student s view of police and authority has probably been reinforced, and officials efforts should be directed toward what caused the problem in the first place.
Lael Moe, Arvada
This letter was published in the April 3 edition.I worked with about 12,000 art students over 30 years at three universities.
I asked them not to depict anything that was overtly sexual, religious or political, partly because I wanted to avoid situations like the one involving the 10th-grader s painting of a KKK-hooded cop pointing a gun at a minority child.
At the Denver university where I taught, we had an adjunct who came up with what he called a Bad Art project. Students were required to create bad art. I thought it was a deplorable idea — though I could see the value in it, in the context of classroom discussions.
I have no interest in creating or witnessing controversial art. Current events supply me with an inexhaustible number of images to fulfill any needs I may have when it comes to contemplating disturbing, frustrating and even angering confluences of human and inhuman behavior.
Craig Marshall Smith, Highlands Ranch
This letter was published in the April 3 edition.
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