Dear Source,
I am the artist who was recently commisioned to paint the retaining wall at Tillett Gardens. As the media reported, the new artwork was intended to replace old peeling images and to cover references to racism. The retaining wall in front of Tillett Gardens should reflect the arts and crafts complex within. Tillett Gardens is a 40-year-old institution on St. Thomas that has represented and encouraged the creativity of nearly all of our local artists and artisans as well as many small entrepreneurs.
I devoted an entire week of my time to make the wall surrounding the entrance to Tillett's pretty and inviting. I once lived at Tillett's, as Rhoda and several other people do, and I work there every day. We have a music teacher's studio, a restaurant, a candle shop, a pottery and bead studio, 2 art galleries, painting and drawing classes, a masseuse, an arts and crafts studio, a language center, a hair salon, a chiropractor, a silk screen studio , blues and classical concerts, music competitions, arts and crafts fairs…………but no venue for disseminating political ideology. Get the picture ? We want it to be a pretty one.
On Saturday morning, Feb. 19th, Mr. Austin Peterson came with a "posse" of children to cover up my paintings of seascapes, palm trees and flowers with pictures of guns and bloodshed. I was cussed out by a little girl who should have been spending the day playing with her friends.
I watched Mr. Peterson, a public school teacher, direct these children to disobey the police. Is that what we want our children to learn? I am not the names that this little girl called me. I have lived here for 20 years and I've never been called these names.
My daughter is the same age as this girl. If one of her teachers took her on a field trip to commit an act of vandalism, curse at an adult, defy the police and threaten the people who were documenting their activity, I would use all of my energy to have this teacher removed from his position. How irresponsible can you get? If the police had been harsh, these kids could have been taken to the station while their teacher was arrested. Is this man a hero or a coward who hides behind the skirts of children ?
I am not against art being used to convey a political message. I am not against freedom of expression in any way. I am definitely against ugliness.
According to the documents that Mrs. Tillett has from 1993, Tillett’’s has the right to have the retaining wall painted in non- offensive images. Mr. Peterson has the right to paint the images of his choice on any one of four other public walls on the island.
My art represents the beauty of the islands and the joyous images of carnival — a positive depiction of life in the Virgin Islands. Mrs. Tillett has the legal and moral right to have those images on the wall outside her arts complex for everyone to enjoy, residents and visitors alike.
