High school buries $100,000 public artwork under a tarpaulin... after students say it looks like a woman's 'private area'



Its powerful warrior motifs are supposed to inspire students as they grow up to be strong men and women.



But a newly unveiled sculpture at the high school in Sarah Palin's home town has caused uproar-because if its supposed resemblance to a woman's genitals.

Just days after the apparently controversial artwork arrived, students began sniggering, prompting the embarrassed principal of Wasila High School, in Alaska, to censor the $100,000 installation.



Public art: A 12.5-foot sculpture installed on the front lawn of Wasilla High School has caused controversy

The stone and concrete sculpture, named 'Warrior Within,' supposedly resembles a vagina because of two carved shields, one made of bronze, the other aluminum, forming the focus of the piece.



Immediately after the sculpture arrived, students began joking that the work looks like female genitalia The Frontiersman said.



And just three days after being unveiled, the publicly funded work was covered up with a tarpaulin.

It had previously been reviewed and approved by the school district



The principal claims the $100,000 piece was covered purely to protect it from damage and vandalism.



'The hubbub started since the piece got delivered,' Amy Spargo told the newspaper. 'There was quite an outcry from parents who were hearing what kids were saying (about the sculpture). My concern was the piece would be damaged.

Censored: The school, shown, decided to cover the sculpture with a tarpaulin

She added: 'Clearly, we needed to do some education. There was such a disconnect from the piece and the (school), I just wanted to re-engage the public process.'



Jim Dault and Shala Dobson, the artists who built the sculpture, have had nine works installed under the state's public art programme in which all public buildings must spend one per cent of their building budget on art..



They described the symbolism of the sculpture as follows:



'Emerging from the powerful stone form are two warrior shields encircled by glowing feathers. The bronze shield has a hand impression showing 'good deeds.'



'The aluminum shield has a flame symbol representing the 'spark of inspiration.' The stone form represents the strong material from which a warrior is made. '

The school later removed the tarpaulin.

Dault told The Frontiersman: 'We poured our heart and soul into that piece, worked on it for nine months,' 'We are proud, and I think there needs to be some time spent with it, as with any piece of art.'

