Posted on 03/24/2011 6:38:32 AM PDT by Cowman
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP/The Blaze) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting the state’s labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Augusta. In addition, the LePage administration is renaming several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons such as Cesar Chavez.
LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt said the mural and the conference room names are not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals and some business owners complained. “The message from state agencies needs to be balanced,” Demeritt told the Sun Journal.
The mural was erected in 2008 with a $60,000 federal grant. It depicts several moments in Maine labor history, including a 1937 shoe mill strike in Auburn and Lewiston and “Rosie the Riveter” and a paper mill workers’ strike in 1986. The idea for the art panels reportedly came from Charley Scontras, a labor historian at the University of Maine.
Judy Taylor, the artist who created the mural, called LePage’s decision to remove the work “terrible,“ adding that her 2007 selection by the Maine Arts Commission represented the ”commission of a lifetime.” Taylor also insisted the artwork was never meant to be political. “There was never any intention to be pro-labor or anti-labor,” she said. “It was a pure depiction of the facts.”
Demeritt said the administration‘s decision was not designed to antagonize organized labor and was not timed to coincide with the groups’ recent budget protests at the state capitol building. Gov. LePage has proposed pension cuts for unionized state workers and teachers and plans to pursue “right-to-work” legislation that has riled union leaders.
Labor advocates claim the decision to remove the mural is “mean-spirited” and a purposeful provocation by the Republican governor.
Mike Tipping, a spokesman for the Maine People’s Alliance, a progressive organization, said LePage had been “elected to create jobs, not to be the state’s interior decorator.”
“The LePage administration is going after Maine workers on a bunch of different fronts,” Tipping said. “I guess ‘Rosie the Riveter’ is just another casualty.”
Additionally, Matt Schlobohm of the Maine AFL-CIO chapter condemned the decision, saying a depiction of history should “rise above” political differences. “To remove a mural that is a historical depiction just seems arbitrary and mean-spirited,” Schlobohm said.
“It’s a very small thing,” Demeritt countered. “I just want to emphasize that we were merely looking to achieve a little aesthetic balance. It’s very minor.”
As for renaming the building’s conference rooms, Demeritt said they could be named “after mountains, counties or something.”
THe only thing that could make this better is if the confrence rooms were renamed after anticommunists -- The Reagan room, The Mccarthy room....
Pass it on.
This is hilarious.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2693631/posts
Yesterday..The Blaze was just a tad late in coverage.
The Cesar Chavez room and others will be re-named after Maine related people, places or things.
http://audio.wrko.com/a/38404034/gov-paul-lepage-of-maine-makes-waves.htm
FULL Interview definitely worth the listen!
With call-ins on other pertinent issues, some American history, drug issues and some humor thrown in as well, after all it is the Howie Carr WRKO talk/radio show.[dated March 23.11]
What? No rooms dedicated to Che Guevera?
Bwahahahahaha! Repaint it with Reagan’s face and have him firing PATCO members. What a waste of taxpayers money. Who approved this expenditure in the first place? Is this more art-in-public-places trash or what? This mural is a representation of welfare for loser “artists” who can’;t make it in the free market.
How about a room dedicated to Joshua Chamberlain?
That’s strange.
I don’t remember the British “decrying” Buma’s mean-spirited removal of the Churchill art from the WH.
It’s always the left who “decrys” stuff huh. Normal people just get on with life.
The Bathroom?
How can a union call anybody “mean spirited” without everyone ROTFLTAO.
LePage has redone the sign coming into Maine from N.H. which says "Open for Business" beneath the "Welcome to Maine" sign along Interstate. It has been between 40-50 years since Maine has had a Republican legislature. This is a real shock for the Liberals...audits have been ongoing as well with surprising results [well maybe not so,]. http://www.wlbz2.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=152127
As one Republican committee worker, I spoke to, said in regard to ongoing meetings at a local pub where a petition was introduced by the Left to void the last LePage election "by the people":
"What a bunch of cry babies".
A place to cut..the Governor could decide to save money and the environment by shutting down the public restrooms off the halls of the capitol building and replace them with newly constructed "out houses"[yes they still exist in Maine]. The Governor enjoys building furniture for relaxation...he could display his craft. That would make the true greenies happy, for a little while!!
The Reagan idea is brilliant - it could have a subtitle: “Restoring freedom and excellence”.
Yes..was he mentioned in the interview? I forget.
Touche`!
I was struck at the gravesite of Joshua Chamberlain. I almost walked right past it, so humble in its presentation.
A beautiful town. Joshua Chamberlain's home is a thing to tour. It's just amazing to see all the artifcats in the house.
If ordered to restore it, LePage should get a big blow-up of a union crowd scene from the WI capitol building that the nation has witnessed the past month. That would be a more accurate depiction of the union movement...and would look a lot like the anarchist rallies around the globe.
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