{"id":61437,"date":"2025-09-13T10:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T10:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/61437\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T10:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T10:22:11","slug":"sculpture-causes-uproar-in-fruita-western-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/61437\/","title":{"rendered":"Sculpture causes uproar in Fruita | Western Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sculpture intended to exude joy has danced right onto the stage of controversy over the past week in Fruita.<\/p>\n

\u201cZafira,\u201d an award-winning, colorful sculpture by local artist Pavia Justinian, was installed in Mulberry Plaza on Sept. 3. It is one of five sculptures placed in the downtown area as part of the HeART of Fruita Program overseen by the City of Fruita Arts and Culture Board.<\/p>\n

In the days since then, \u201cZafira,\u201d which displays female genitalia, has provoked outrage from some residents and gained approval from others around the community and online.<\/p>\n

\u201cFruita\u2019s a small community. There\u2019s a buzz about this topic in all settings,\u201d said Dan Caris, Fruita\u2019s assistant city manager, who was fielding media calls for the board on Thursday with regard to the sculpture.<\/p>\n

He confirmed that the city as well as board members have received many phone calls and messages about the sculpture, and that the board\u2019s chair, Carlee Burnett, resigned Thursday morning. Caris couldn\u2019t confirm whether the resignation was tied to the sculpture controversy.<\/p>\n

However, a regular monthly board meeting that took place Wednesday evening had about 20\u201325 members of the community present for public comment, which \u201cis a rarity,\u201d Caris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my understanding, and I certainly haven\u2019t read all of the comments, but I think the gist is that there are a portions of the community who feel as if the sculpture can be received as offensive and then there are others that are defending it as an art piece and there was no offensive nature to the piece,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Following the meeting, a post on the board\u2019s Facebook page appeared, thanking community members for their comments and displaying a photo of the sculpture wearing a blue apron tied at the waist.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that was shared was taken into consideration, and it\u2019s a lot to process. We want to honor everyone the best that we possibly can. Tomorrow we will be reaching out to the artist to talk about some options. Options include a modification of the sculpture, a relocation of the sculpture, or the removal of the sculpture,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n

It also listed several factors of concern including vandalism and the boycott of downtown business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board had chosen to cover the controversial part of the sculpture and post a sign asking for patience while we develop a permanent solution,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n

Caris did not know if the the board had yet been in contact with Justinian, but the artist posted her own thoughts on social media regarding the controversy on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI know that I and many others would like to see her (the sculpture) stay in Mulberry Plaza unchanged and uncensored,\u201d Justinian wrote after thanking those who have supported her and her art. She also explained that she was out of town when Wednesday\u2019s meeting took place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am aware of some of the negative things being said about Zafira on social media, and although I\u2019m disappointed, I respect that people hold differing opinions, and not everyone is going to like my work. So far I\u2019ve let this conversation unfold and let my art speak for itself. But as soon as I saw that picture of Zafira covered up with an apron, it really made me sad and angry,\u201d Justinian wrote. \u201cNo one asked me if that would be an acceptable solution to this issue. They\u2019ve taken a piece of art that I\u2019m proud of and slut-shamed her into a sideshow complete with an ugly costume and a shameful sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, social media posts regarding the sculpture have raged back and forth.<\/p>\n

\u201cNudity has no place in public. Put it in a gallery,\u201d wrote one commenter on the Fruita, Colorado Message Board on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not nude. It\u2019s a sculpture. Seeing my neighbor\u2019s dog is more explicit,\u201d came a reply.<\/p>\n

Posts expressed concerns regarding vulgarity, censorship, beauty, inappropriate actions by those viewing the sculpture and the sculpture\u2019s placement in a location frequented by families and visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are asked to get along with our community and be polite\u2026. then someone gets to place their inappropriate art in our public spaces where children walk.. and there are families that will unknowingly stumble upon this inappropriate art. Fruita do better,\u201d said a post to the Fruita, Colorado Message Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, one of last year\u2019s pieces drew lots of ire because it depicted an unclothed woman. We survived. Most likely we\u2019ll survive this also,\u201d read another post.<\/p>\n

The Fruita Arts and Culture Board likely will have a special meeting in a week\u2019s time regarding the sculpture and any future steps, Caris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important to remember the HeART of Fruita is new. I think this is only its third year, if my memory serves, so there\u2019s going to have to be adjustments made like there is with any program,\u201d Caris said.<\/p>\n

Controversy aside, \u201cwe believe this is a positive thing for the community,\u201d he said. \u201cWe love the program. It\u2019s for everyone. I think we are going to be thinking through ways in the future where this is an effort that brings people together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sculpture intended to exude joy has danced right onto the stage of controversy over the past week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[595,365,362,363,364,366,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-61437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-art","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}