Catholics Getting Nervous?

[Elspode]

TOPEKA-- A sculpture depicting a Catholic clergyman in a cap resembling a penis has drawn
criticism from people who want it removed from the Washburn University campus.

The piece, called "Holier Than Thou," is the work of Jerry Boyle of Longmont, Colo. It depicts
the upper body of a heavy-set man with a contorted face and a tall ecclesiastical cap known as a
miter. The caps, with peaks in front and back, are worn by bishops, cardinals and the pope for
ceremonial occasions.

The base of the sculpture bears the following inscription: "The artist says, I was brought up
Catholic. I remember being 7 and going into the dark confessional booth for the first time. I knelt
down, and my face was only inches from the thin screen that separated me and the one who had
the power to condemn me for my evil ways. I was scared to death, for on the other side of that
screen was the person you see before you."

"I like controversy," he said. "For a piece of art, if people, want to laugh with it, laugh at it or
spit on it, that's OK. I just don't like them to walk by it."

People walking past the sculpture Tuesday differed on whether it was offensive. One young
woman said she had not noticed the hat's resemblance to a penis until someone else mentioned it.

Cooney, who described the clergyman as "evil-looking," agreed that the sexual image
portrayed was "very subtle." But he said the sculpture insulted members of the Catholic church,
which has undergone a scandal involving child-molesting priests.

"I think all Catholics should be outraged," he said.

Cooney questioned whether public money was spent on the sculpture. David Monical,
Washburn's executive director of university relations, said no tax money supported the sculpture
and four others put on display in the past two weeks as part of an exhibition financed by private
donations.

Monical said artists and art teachers representing Washburn's Campus Beautification
Committee picked Boyle's sculpture and four others from 90 entries to be displayed as part of the
municipal university's eighth annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.

The sculptures are on loan to the university and should remain on display until July, Monical
said. He said no one involved in picking the sculptures intended to cause anyone pain.
Boyle said he created the sculpture as a "humorous piece" that was "not intended to be
meanspirited," and he said he hoped people would form their own opinions about its meaning.

"It's subjective. That's why it makes the world go around," he said. "Everybody sees something
different."

Monical said one purpose of art is to engage people intellectually and emotionally.

"This work apparently has fulfilled that function as there is a wide variety of commentary on
the piece, ranging from support to opposition," he said.