PORT TOWNSEND — Centrum officials have presented retired lawmaker Lynn Kessler with a series of prints based on images in a controversial mural that was taken down in the 1990s from a wall in the state Capitol in Olympia.
“You have no idea how much these mean to me because they were so much a part of my life in my office,” Kessler said at Friday’s presentation, which followed a Centrum board meeting at Fort Worden State Park.
“This is such a kind present, which I will keep for the rest of my life.”
Kessler, a Democrat from Hoquiam, represented the 24th District for 18 years, 12 as House majority leader, before her retirement last year. The district covers Jefferson and Clallam counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
Rep. Steve Tharinger, a Democrat from Sequim, was elected to her seat in November.
Kessler took the opportunity to speak for public support of the arts.
“It saddens me to see that legislators are looking to cut support for public art as a way to balance the budget when art is part of the balance of life,” she said.
“I understand the trouble they are in with the current budget, but life without art isn’t life; it’s just existence.”
The prints “The Labors of Hercules” were created by Seattle artist Michael Spafford during a Centrum residency at Fort Worden and were copied from a mural that he had painted in 1980 for display in the House of Representatives’ visitors gallery.
Spafford’s intention was to draw a parallel to mythical occurrences in Olympia, Greece, where Hercules’ struggles against evil and monsters are depicted at the Temple of Zeus.
But some lawmakers felt the abstract paintings were inappropriate in the state Capitol.
“This was during the same time when [photographer Robert] Mapplethorpe’s pictures were thought to be obscene and there was a controversy about using public funds to support art,” said Centrum Executive Director John MacElwee.
“These images were also thought to be obscene and were removed from the Capitol building,” MacElwee said.
In 1993, the House put $162,000 in the budget to remove the Hercules paintings — nearly double what the state paid Spafford to create them, according to a Fort Worden statement.
Kessler, who was in the first term of her legislative career, fought unsuccessfully to keep the murals.
One version of the images that were presented to Kessler hung in her office for 14 years.
“I was fortunate to be in the Capitol for one term while the murals were in the gallery,” she said.
“After they were taken down, there were people who wanted to bury them, but after I became majority leader, I used the influence of that office to say that I was going to put them in a place where people could see them and enjoy them.”
Kessler said the images depicted contained subtle messages for lawmakers, which were ignored because of the controversy.
One image, which was characterized as a “rape” by one legislator, actually had a different meaning, Kessler said.
“It wasn’t a rape but a murder — not that it’s any better,” she said.
“Hercules is murdering the Amazon queen because of a rumor, and the lesson to us is don’t go on rumors, make sure it is true and that you think things through before you act,” Kessler said.
Kessler added that the artist, who is a personal friend of hers, was disturbed that the messages were taken out of context and “turned into something they are not.”
Upon the completion of Kessler’s last term, she was allowed to receive gifts costing more than $50, so Centrum decided to give her the prints as a token of appreciation for her longtime support of the arts, MacElwee said.
The prints have not been appraised, but are probably worth between $5,000 and $10,000, he said.
Kessler said she plans to hang the prints in her living room and eventually give them to her son, who runs an art gallery.
The mural images were taken to a museum in Centralia, where they are now on display.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
