THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504150285
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHARON LAROWE, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
They've made guest appearances on bank checks, advertisements and posters.
But as far as James Madison University is concerned - Adam and God, in a rendition of Michelangelo's famous portrait - can't be on the walls of a dorm this semester.
The artist was told by JMU's Office of Residence Life to paint over the mural he drew two weeks ago of Adam and God reaching out to touch their fingertips. It was a reproduction of Michelangelo's ``The Creation of Adam.''
The artist, David Chang of Lynchburg, who whited-over his creation last week, said university officials were nervous about a religious picture. University officials say they objected because he didn't fill out an application to paint the mural in the TV lounge of Weaver Hall.
Most residents of Weaver say that the issue was religious and that Chang wasn't given a fair shot.
``I'm an atheist - I don't believe in organized religion - but I didn't have any problems whatsoever with the painting,'' freshman Patrick Peak said.
Peak said he thought it was a case of taking the separation of church and state to an extreme. ``Hundreds of years ago, the church banned anything that was not religious, and today it seems like just the opposite,'' he said.
Chang, an art major, drew the images after residents and resident advisers at Weaver agreed it was time to update the mural in the lounge. Chang said that residents liked his idea and didn't see it as a religious painting, but he was told that administrators might raise objections.
Nevertheless, he said, ``I just wanted to see if I could do it. I really respect the painting. It's more artistic and aesthetic, than religious.''
Linda Cabe Halpern, an associate professor of art, agreed. ``The Creation of Adam,'' she said, is a ``cultural icon. In our society, I believe it does have meaning far larger than the religious meaning originally intended by Michelangelo.''
The painting became a source of friction between Chang and the residence life office.
Chang said Area Coordinator Stephanie Smythers was opposed to the mural because it might offend someone who didn't adhere to the Judeo-Christian view of God and man. He said that she told him ``it had the potential to be religiously offensive to somebody.'' Smythers declined comment.
But Jim McConnel, director of the Office of Residence Life, said the problem was that Chang never filled out an application to paint the mural. If he does so next semester, McConnel said, the mural can go back up.
``My understanding,'' McConnel said, ``is that the approval process was never followed through. He was told that he didn't have approval and he needed to stop, and he continued.'' by CNB