One of five sculptures installed across the City of Fruita two weeks ago will be relocated on Friday after a contentious debate over its depiction of a naked woman.
The Fruita Arts and Culture Board made the decision Wednesday night during a special board meeting, which was intended to address the controversy that drew about 25 residents to voice their concerns at the board’s regular monthly meeting on Sept. 10.
The sculpture will likely remain in Fruita for one year, as planned, but only if a private business is willing to host the piece. Otherwise, it will be returned to its creator.
According to Fruita Arts and Culture Board Member Carlee Burnett, the decision was difficult, but it felt like a compromise that does its best to honor community concerns, local supporters of the statue and its creator.
Larry Robinson/The Daily Sentinel
An artwork titled “Zafira”, made by local artist Pavia Justinian, is seen displayed in Fruita’s Mulberry Plaza on Wednesday. The piece of art, which has become the center of a town controversy because of the female genitalia displayed, will be relocated Friday. The Fruita Arts and Culture Board made the decision Wednesday night during a special board meeting.
Larry Robinson/The Daily Sentinel
“I want artists to feel safe to submit to our program,” she said. “I want them to be confident that we’re going to handle it with care and love, and I also want our community to be able to trust that we’re going to treat them with the same ideals.”
The installation was part of the city’s “HeART of Fruita” program, which features a rotating selection of sculptures from Grand Valley artists over a one-year period.
The piece in question, named “Zafira,” illustrates a woman in a ballerina-like pose. Among the sculpture’s many colors, some passersby said they were struck by one detail: the female genitalia.
Within a week, Burnett said the board was inundated with an outpour of criticism and even threats, which she attributed to the decision’s urgency.
An artwork titled “Zafira”, made by local artist Pavia Justinian, is seen displayed in Fruita’s Mulberry Plaza on Wednesday. The piece of art, which has become the center of a town controversy because of the female genitalia displayed, will be relocated Friday.
Larry Robinson / The Daily Sentinel
The emergency board meeting saw another 20 locals, of whom nearly half spoke during public comment. A bit over half of the speakers were opposed to the sculpture, or its placement in a public area open to children.
“Fruita is a very family-friendly community, and this is just not a family-friendly statue,” one attendee said.
“If you allow this, you will also allow art that shows a man’s penis or other parts that maybe you don’t want to invite into our community,” another local said. “I’m just saying, it’s not commonplace, and it shouldn’t be commonplace. It is very sacred, and I think we need to go back to what that represents: morality.”
Fruita wasn’t Zafira’s debut, as its sculptor, Pavia Justinian, said it had residency in Aurora, Longmont and Westminster. She added that in Longmont, Zafira won a “People’s Choice Award,” and in Westminster, the sculpture was dubbed “Best in Show.”
An artwork titled “Zafira”, made by local artist Pavia Justinian, is seen displayed in Fruita’s Mulberry Plaza on Wednesday. The piece of art, which has become the center of a town controversy because of the female genitalia displayed, will be relocated Friday.
Larry Robinson / The Daily Sentinel
Despite that success, it was also revealed that Zafira encountered a similar issue during its stay in Parker, where community pushback led to an early removal.
At Wednesday’s meeting, there was a notable number of attendees in support of the statue.
“As a kid, I was told that I was created in the image of God, and that there was nothing for me to be embarrassed about or ashamed of my body,” one local said. “I think that’s true, and it’s the message I would like to send. I don’t find the sculpture at all offensive — I find it joyful.”
Nonetheless, Burnett said it was clear the sculpture could not stay in the central plaza, primarily because of the potential for sponsors withdrawing their support or a loss of community faith, either of which could force the three-year-old HeART of Fruita program to end.
Close
Fruita Arts and Culture Board members listen to a Fruita resident during the public comment section of an emergency board meeting on Sept. 17, spurred by a controversy over one of the sculptures placed in Mulberry Plaza.
About 20 Fruita and Grand Valley residents attended the Fruita Arts and Culture Board’s emergency meeting on Sept. 17, with many sharing their thoughts on the recent sculpture scandal.
Fruita Arts and Culture Board members, accompanied by sculptor Pavia Justinian (far right), listen to a Fruita resident during the public comment section of an emergency board meeting on Sept. 17, spurred by a controversy over one of Pavia’s sculptures, which was placed in Mulberry Plaza just two weeks prior.