A Vermont law school can permanently conceal two murals that depict Black people in a way that members of the law school community consider racist, despite the artist's objections that doing so would violate his rights under a rarely litigated law, a Vermont federal court has said.
Section of the mural at Vermont Law School In July 2020, Vermont Law School announced that it would remove from its campus a large mural that had incited controversy among students and faculty for its portrayal of slavery, African Americans and the Underground Railroad. Eight months later, the mural remains. Its removal has proved complicated and could be a test case for an obscure federal statute regarding visual artwork.
Thomas McHenry, then-president and dean of the South Royalton law school, initially announced that the mural would be painted over. Sam Kerson, the artist, objected. The plan was amended to give Kerson a chance to remove the mural. But carpenters determined that removal would require the work to be cut in pieces, constituting destruction.