Free the Art, All of it
Who authorizes and supports the production of public art? This question is one that can be discussed perpetually. Many different ideas and opinions come into play. First of all, who gets to decide that certain pl
aces have public art? Who pays for it? What is the definition of public art? All of these are questions that play into this topic. The answer to this question can vary fromplace to place, and ultimately can only be satisfied when looked at through multiple perspectives. It matters where the art is going to be displayed, who is paying for it, and how lo
ng it will last in the certain area. In this paper, I will discuss two different works of public art—that of Jose
Clemente Orozco’s in the Dartmouth College Library: The Epic of American Civilization and the work of Walter Beach Humphrey on the walls in the basement of 1953 Commons: The Hovey Murals.
The first part of answering this question is to look at where the art is going to be displayed. On one hand, The Epic of American Civilization is displayed for the public to view in the basement of Baker Library. Many students study in this part of the library every single day, thus, the mural gets a great deal of exposure. There are also people that come in who just want to view the murals for themselves. It is free and open to the public whenever that part of the libra
ry is open. Because of this, the murals are so easily accessible to a wide variety of people. Orozco painted these murals knowing this, and Dartmouth College, who was commissioning Orozco, also knew this. The Epic of American Civilization’s audience was and will continue to be broad, and that is very important when asking whether or not this mural is appropriate for the setting.
However, the audience meant for The Hovey Murals was and is very different than that of The Epic of American Civilization. The Hovey Murals’ audience at the time was meant for adult white males. No female students were allowed in the college yet, and the college was overwhelmingly white. This meant that the images depicted in the mural were seen as appropriate for its audience. However, the mural is permanent in the sense that it still remains beautifully intact today. This also means that its audience is vastly different now than it was back then. At the time it was created, The Hovey Murals were seen as lighthearted and funny. Now, many people take offense to them (i.e. women, people of color—especially Native Americans).
The next question to unpack is an important one: who is paying for this? Dartmouth College footed the bill with The Epic of American Civilization, meaning that tuition money might have been used to make each mural a reality. This might not be a topic of controversy for some people. However, others might not be too happy that their money is going towards a project like this. When this conflict happens, it is of utmost importance to make sure that the piece of art being created has proven benefits for those who are purchasing it—whether that be directly or indirectly. This is much easier said than done, as it hard to prove this. The way to combat this conflict is to make sure that there is proper education provided to the audience it is made for. Without the available knowledge of a piece such as this, some people might not take the time to appreciate what was created for them to learn from. On the contrary, alumni made it possible for The Hovey Murals to exist.
The final perspective to look at this bigger question from is how long the piece of public art will last. The Epic of American Civilization was created with fresco technique, meaning that it was created with the intent to be permanent. This is an important decision that Dartmouth College had to make when commissioning Jose Clemente Orozco, as whatever he created on their walls would be there until the walls themselves were not there anymore. The Hovey Murals similarly were done in a way that was very permanent—they were painted on canvas’ and then mounted into the walls of the basement of the 1953 Commons.
When looking at the question of who authorizes and supports the production of public art, it is important to answer it in multiple layers. Those in charge of purchasing the art need to take into account who their audience is, where their money is coming from in order to make the art a possibility, and how long the art itself will last. Only when the answers to these three questions are reasonable can the public art even be at all possible in my opinion. Public art is extremely important, but certain perspectives need to be looked at in order to ensure that it stays important to many people for years to come.
After sifting through all of this, it is important to note the standing of both murals in modern times. Currently, The Epic of American Civilization is still on display for the public to view whenever the library is open. Students can come and go as they choose when studying, and any other people are welcome to come into the library free of charge to view the beautiful mural. The Hovey Murals, however, have a much different home. They still sit in the basement of the Class of 1953 Commons, and are not free to be viewed by the public. They are closed off and can only be viewed by groups of students with a professor who have had proper education about the murals (i.e. a class). Because of this, most of the campus does not know about the murals at all. Those who do know but have not seen them think of the murals as a “dirty little secret” that Dartmouth is hiding. Why is this so? To unpack this question, it is important to look back at the history of the two Dartmouth murals.
The Epic of American Civilization was created by Jose Clemente Orozco during the years 1932-1934 (Rochfort). In 2013, The Dartmouth Review published an article that discussed both murals. The article describes Orozco’s as such:
The content of the mural is not uncontroversial; The Epic of American Civilization offers a radically revised narrative of American history, in which European migration to the Americas leads to an apocalyptic modern era characterized by destruction and greed. Orozco was a practitioner of social realism, and the mural showcases his opinions on capitalism, higher education, Christianity, and other aspects of American society he found unsavory.
This was not a new opinion. Many, especially at the time it was created, thought that The Epic of 
American Civilization did not represent history, especially that of the college. Orozco depicts a skeleton giving birth to another skeleton, surrounded by skeletons dressed in some sort of education attire (graduation gowns, etc.). Dartmouth College is an educational institution, so this was of course controversial. Here, Orozco is almost mocking the education system.
In particular, it caught the attention of Dartmouth College alum Walter Beach Humphrey, class of 1914. Again, The Dartmouth Review article describes the situation:
College president Ernest Martin Hopkins supported Orozco’s mural as a matter of principle, but agreed to allow the angry alumni the opportunity to create a mural of their own. From 1938 to 1939, on commission by the Trustees of the College, Humphrey painted four scenes inspired by “Eleazar Wheelock,” a Dartmouth drinking song written by Richard Hovey, Class of 1885, who also penned Dartmouth’s Alma Mater. The “Hovey mural,” as it is called, would decorate a rathskeller in the basement of Thayer Dining Hall (now Class of 1953 Commons), and act as a counterpoint to Orozco’s fresco on the other side of campus.
Now, Dartmouth College contained two murals that were very contradictory towards one another at opposite ends of the campus. The Hovey Murals are very controversial for obvious reasons, and this is the reason why they are kept hidden away from the daily viewer to take in. In the murals, Native Americans are mocked and all look identical. Humphrey paints the women with very little clothing. Moreover, the women do not seem to be native at all—they are all white women.
As Dr. Mary Coffey, an Associate Professor of Art History at Dartmouth College writes, “Orozco was an outsider who endeavored to challenge the aesthetic and ideological convictions of his U.S. public; Humphrey was an inveterate insider who sought to ingratiate himself with Dartmouth Men past, present, and future” (book thing from Prof Moody). Each man had a different idea for his own mural—they each had different opinions about the world around him. In each mural, similarities are seen. Most notably is the Christ figure from Orozco and Wheelock standing above everyone else.
Even though they are extremely controversial, I believe the Hovey Murals should be out in the open on display for all to see, much like The Epic of American Civilization is. However, it should be showcased in a way that provides its audience with the proper context (i.e. some form of education by means of the art in an exhibit with someone there who is trained to answer questions and tell people about it). By doing this, I believe Dartmouth College will be striving to reach a cultural maturity that can only exist when a tumultuous and imperfect past is recognized for what it is and embraced as something that can better the future.
Here, we have two very different murals showcasing two very different stories of history. Each is important to look at and understand for different reasons. When people from both sides of the argument have something to say, I believe both should be allowed to speak freely. They each have the right to paint, but it is our right to agree or disagree with it. If one side of the argument is silenced, then nothing can be learned from either side. The silenced side only becomes angrier. We should not be ashamed of “Old Dartmouth.” We should embrace it, all of it—especially its mistakes. Only when we do this will we be able to learn from the past and better ourselves from it. I am from North Dakota, a place that has a long history of tumultuous relationships with the Native American population. I have learned so much about my state’s past because I have been able to have tough conversations with people. If I would not have been allowed to ask questions, then I would not now be able to understand another’s perspective—one that very few have the opportunity to tap into. Yes, these are extremely controversial. But how are we going to open up a discussion about these topics if we aren’t allowed to see it?
Works Cited
Rochfort, Desmond. Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1998. Print.
This is a great book as our entire class has been reading it over the past few weeks. It has great images of The Epic of American Civilization which is the piece of art that will be the primary focus of my paper. I also really like the way that I can get a glimpse into the life of Orozco as well as get some insight from an outside source about his artwork.
Ades, Dawn, González Mello. Mello, and Diane Miliotes. José Clemente Orozco in the United States, 1927-1934. Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2002. Print.
In this book, there are great images of the mural that Orozco created at Dartmouth College. Also, this book is specifically about the time Orozco spent in the United States which is the part of his life that I am focusing on.
Swan, Kristin. "Orozco's Epic of American Civilization Now a National Historic Landmark." Orozco's Epic of American Civilization Now a National Historic Landmark | Hood Museum. Hood Museum, 1 June 2013. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.
I really like this website because there are interactive pictures of the mural that Orozco painted here at Dartmouth. I also trust this website because it is Dartmouth owned and operated. From this website, I have also gained a lot of my knowledge of the individual panels from The Epic of American Civilization. I have used the images that this website provides to include in this research paper, and have used their citing in order to cite the images I chose of the different panels.
Rascoff, James G. "The Other Mural." The Dartmouth Review. The Dartmouth Review, 13 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.
This article is what inspired me to write this paper. I switched my research topic in order to include The Hovey Murals because I realized that this and The Epic of American Civilization cannot be separated. This article did a really great job of showcasing a different argument than I have heard before, and I was really interested in diving deeper in the controversies surrounding both murals.
Humphrey, Walter Beach, Brian P. Kennedy, and Colin G. Calloway. The Hovey Murals at Dartmouth College: Culture and Contexts. Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2011. Print.
This book was a fantastic help to me. In it, I got to read a few essays from people who have studied The Hovey Murals in depth. In particular, I loved reading Professor Mary Coffey’s essay regarding the murals. This book also provided me with the pictures of The Hovey Murals that I have included in this essay.
I also would like to mention that I got to speak to Jose Clemente Orozco’s grandson over Skype, and was able to hear stories about him. Clemente gave me great insight into his grandfather’s life, and it was incredible to hear from someone who is related to the great painter.