Student talks Trump art ban from Morristown HS Artist at peace with decision to remove work from show

Michael Izzo | Morristown Daily Record

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While many people are unhappy that satirical illustrations of President Donald Trump were removed from a Morristown High School art show last week, the artist is not one of them.

The illustration, created by 17-year-old junior Liam Shea, depicted Donald Trump looking like a pig and holding a cat in front of a burning American Flag.

“I like to keep up with current events and I’m not pleased with some of what the president has been doing,” Liam Shea said of his decision to draw it.

The cat, he said, is a reference to the audio that leaked of Trump bragging to former “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush about groping women. Trump was depicted as a pig both because pigs are a symbol of greed, and because Liam Shea had the George Orwell novel “Animal Farm” in his mind as he drew the illustration, he said.

“But the burning flag has drawn the most controversy,” Liam Shea said. “I like this country. Burning the flag, in my mind, is just because things seem backwards right now to me. Like with climate change, progress is being lost.”

More: Wall HS teacher suspended over Trump yearbook censorship

Trump has created controversy at several high schools this year. A high school yearbook in Wall was altered to remove Trump imagery and quotes, though the school announced it would be redistributing the yearbook after restoring the material. The Trump name and brand also caused issues in other schools, ranging from a student saying she would like to behead the president in a yearbook comment, to someone flying a Trump flag above a high school in California.

Liam Shea came up with his idea in his Art 3 Honors class. He had to choose an assignment from a list of prompts and landed on creating a political cartoon. He first drew the Trump sketch in pencil before recreating it in pastels. Later, in a graphic design class, he worked on it further in Adobe Illustrator.

“It was a side project for a few months and I finished it a couple of weeks ago, before the art show. I sent it to the Tricorn, the school’s literary magazine, to go with something someone else wrote,” Liam Shea said. “Then when I went in (to the gallery at the school) the Tuesday before the show, I saw it blown up and hanging there.”

The teachers pick the artwork, so Liam Shea did not know it would be part of the annual Art and Design show.

“We were surprised to see it there,” said Liam Shea’s father, Tom. “He had other artwork there too. We didn’t know what would be (on display).”

Liam said the first signs that the illustration was generating buzz came before the gallery even opened, as the photo began circulating through students on Snapchat.

“I thought any attention for my art was good attention,” Liam Shea said.

The gallery was open one night to parents, and the illustration hung for the full evening. The next day, Liam Shea was called to the principal’s office.

“Principal (Mark) Manning told me respectfully that it would be taken down,” Liam Shea said, adding he understood why and was even a little excited about the decision. “If you can get your art taken down, that it provokes enough of a reaction for that, I reached a milestone.”

The Daily Record made several calls and sent emails to the high school, Manning, and Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast over the last week seeking comment on the matter but none were answered.

A second Trump drawing, titled “Cheeto in a Speedo” which depicted the president riding a missile while wearing nothing but a skimpy swimsuit and taking a photo of himself using a selfie stick, was also removed from the art show after the first day. The photo, reminiscent of a scene from the movie “Dr. Strangelove,” also depicts Trump waiving a “Make America Great Again” hat, while White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer hangs off the back of the missile.

That drawing was created by Liam Shea and a group of four other students as part of a live competition that evening. The topic was “America Takes a Selfie,” and other groups used the prompt to tackle other issues including climate change and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Liam Shea would have been happy for the story to end there, but news quickly spread throughout the school.

“Some people were happy it was taken down,” he said. “Other people were upset they didn’t get a chance to see it.”

After Liam Shea’s mother, Kelly, shared the art on Facebook – saying the image deserved to be seen, as art is meant to provoke, and citing freedom of expression – the buzz left the school and spread rapidly.

Tom Shea said he was worried his son might be bullied once the story took off.

“But that hasn’t happened,” Tom Shea said. “There’s been a good dialogue.”

“I’ve actually made friends because of this,” Liam Shea added. “It’s no problem for me. I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus.”

Overall, Liam Shea has been able to block out the controversy outside the high school.

“I think Liam sees this through his own little microcosm,” Tom Shea said. “Something about this president motivated him to do this, but he’s not a controversial kid.”

Liam Shea said he holds no ill will toward the school for the decision to remove the illustrations.

“Principal Manning was very respectful to me and I want to be respectful back,” Liam Shea said. “He told me he thought it was well done. And I completely understand why it was taken down. It was big and controversial. I know people are talking about free speech but school is supposed to be a safe space and if this is making people feel uncomfortable, that’s not my intention.”

His parents feel the same way.

“It’s not a big issue. He wasn’t given a bad grade, he just couldn’t publicly display it,” Tom Shea said. “I would applaud that it was up there in the first place. It’s that creative environment that enabled him to do the project in the first place.”

At the moment, Liam Shea is focused on completing his finals and finishing out the school year. Once summer officially hits next week, he may start looking into creating T-shirts with his illustration to sell.

He also insists that while he has no immediate plans to create new political art, the experience has not scared him off from making a statement in the future should he be compelled to do so.

Several media outlets have reported on the story since the illustration was removed last week, some of which have the potential to reach the president himself. Liam Shea hopes Trump sees it.

“That would be pretty cool,” Liam Shea said. “Maybe we could have a discussion about it.”

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com