In an exclusive story, The New York Daily News has reported that the famed and historic New Era Deal murals at Dewitt Clinton High School have been destroyed.
The culprit? The Board of Ed.
Someone thought it would be a good idea to cover up the historic murals and just paint right over them with a wretched blue paint.
I mean, really the color doesn’t matter at this point because what matters is that someone idiot (yes, you’re an idiot) decided to do such a thing without even consulting with anyone else.
DOE tells the New York Daily News that workers merely painted over it as they made repairs to damage to the school building but that’s still a load of crap and trying to shrug off responsibility.
The News writes:
“Constellations” by German-born painter Alfred Floegel was installed on the ceiling outside DeWitt Clinton’s library in 1940. It depicted the stars in the heavens alongside another large-scale Floegel mural called “History of the World.”
The paintings, deemed Floegel’s masterpieces, were both used in history lessons. They also appear in the Department of Education’s online art collection, “Public Art for Public Schools.”
“It is a kind of Sistine Chapel of New Deal artworks,” wrote Richard Walker, a University of California/Berkley professor who directs the Living New Deal project, which aims to preserve New Deal-era artworks.
Luckily the entire work of art wasn’t destroyed as it was only the constellation mural on the ceilings but it’s still a huge loss nevertheless.
DOE is reportedly looking at ways to restore the work.
Read the full story over at The New York Daily News.