The mural in question is the WPA-era creation of artist Ann O’Hanlon, a relative of Wendell Berry’s wife, Tanya. The couple had argued in a 2020 lawsuit against removal of the mural. The Herald-Leader reports this most recent ruling by Judge Wingate dismisses that suit, saying the Berrys lack standing, but it does stipulate that the art should stay put.
Student groups have long called for the removal of the mural, which shows Black men and women planting tobacco and a Native American man holding a tomahawk. Efforts to take away the artwork — which is painted onto the plaster of the wall — have been ongoing since at least 2006.
In that time, the mural has been covered and uncovered, had additional artwork created around it, and new context added, but the debate has continued.
Judge Wingate wrote the mural “does not glorify the abhorrent practice of slavery or the taking of Native American territory. But rather is a concise depiction of what Ms. O’Hanlon was instructed to create — a history of Kentucky from 1792 through the 1920s.”
UK spokesman Jay Blanton tells WUKY the school’s intent remains the same: to maintain and move the mural.
