Nearly 70-year-old murals taken down at University of Rhode Island for lack of diversity

(WJAR) — A mural painted nearly 70 years ago at the University of Rhode Island is set to be taken down after staff said students complained about a lack of diversity in the picture.

1954 was the dedication of “The Memorial Union” at the University of Rhode Island.

When veterans returned from World War II and enrolled at URI, they and other community members raised money in memory of those who lost their lives in the war.

Money raised was for a modern student union, which gave it the name, “Memorial Union.”

Arthur “Art” Sherman was a decorated returning veteran and member of the class of 1950, a predominately all-white class.

Less than 2,000 students overall attended the university overall.

Originally, he was asked to draw cartoon-like murals in a Quonset Hut that served as an earlier site for the student union but in 1953, as the current Memorial Union was being completed, the building’s manager asked him to paint more murals in the new building’s ground.

“Oh, I loved painting that, yeah,” said Sherman, who’s now 95 years old. “I never had any formal education in painting by the way I just used to cartoon.”

The murals depict servicemen returning to Kingston, a class reunion, URI commencement, a South County beach scene, and students piled into a jalopy wearing letter sweaters.

“Well, it depicted that era,” said Sherman. “A lot of students, friends of mine, would come by and say why don’t you do this, why don’t you do that so that’s what I did so everybody chipped in.”

The mural has been left untouched for nearly 70 years.

On a few occasions, in his younger years, Sherman touched them up a few times but soon it will soon be gone for good.

“It really depicts a snapshot in time of the university’s history, important history, showing a person returning back to campus from World War II and other historical moments,” said Vice President of Student Affairs, Kathy Collins. “We’ve made a really difficult decision as we aim for the university’s future and we think about who are our students today, and who are our students going to be tomorrow.”

Collins said she’s been working for URI for the last four years and has received complaints from students.

“I have received complaints about the murals that portray a very homogeneous population predominately the persons painted and depicted on the wall are predominantly white and that does not represent who our institution is today,” said Collins. “Some of our students have even shared with us they didn’t feel comfortable sitting in that space.”

Pamela Sherman, Art’s daughter, said her family does not agree with the decision to remove the mural.

“It’s an opportunity for the University of Rhode Island to do the right thing, it’s an opportunity for them to capture a moment in time in their history,” she said.

“It should be let’s look at our history and let’s maintain the timeline of that history over the many generations,” she added.

“We would love to see new artwork, but let’s put them alongside and show a timeline of the evolution of this campus, the evolution of this university, let’s show it as a timeline and how it’s changed over the years.”

Sherman said for many years her family of long-standing alumni, which includes her father who went on to be a professor of physical education at the university, have enjoyed the murals.

Her dad, Art, worked at URI for about 30 years.

“It’s terribly upsetting and we grew up with those murals being there,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for the University of Rhode Island to embrace its history, it’s an opportunity for it to show a timeline, a progression and a change over decades and we never want to forget our past.”

According to URI, they wanted to start the school year without the mural.

“I think we have to recognize the horrible incidents and the tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and most recently Jacob Blake in Kenosha Wisconsin during this is heightened time and we as an institution have to look at the systems in place across this institution that maybe are not representing who we are today and representing the true diversity of URI today,” said Collins.

Right now, big banners cover up the murals that are painted on plaster on two of the walls.

Collins said the wall could be taken down and in its place, could be a digital wall.

A photographer took pictures of the murals before covering them.

“Certainly, pictures of these murals will be included in any celebration of space and place that is the Memorial Union,” said Collins. “This is not at all to say that the dedication and the work that Dr. Sherman has done for this institution we recognize and we will always recognize that going forward.”

“Wouldn’t it be a mistake if we look back a hundred years from now and say, ‘Isn’t it a tragedy that we lost this artwork?’ said Sherman. “It’s like any work of art, especially a painting, seeing a picture of it there’s just no comparison with seeing it live.”

When asked what he thought about his murals being removed, he said, “That’s a good question. Time goes by and things change.”