Court art removed after complaint

Photo collages on the walls of the Thurston County Family and Juvenile Court building were taken down Monday after an Olympia resident complained they discriminated against men.

"When you go into that court, you're in a very vulnerable state," Jamie Powell said after he raised the issue Monday at the Thurston County commissioners' public meeting. "When you go in there and see that kind of thing, how does that make you feel about your chances of being treated fairly?"

The five wood-framed collages included photos and writings about domestic violence and wife abuse, along with a national domestic violence help-line number at the bottom of each one. They had been on display for four years.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham said Monday he received the collages from a state official at a domestic violence summit four years ago. Wickham said he put the artwork aside because he did not feel comfortable displaying the pieces.

"I would not have put them up myself for exactly those reasons," Wickham said, referring to concerns such as Powell's. "We try very hard not to present the appearance of favoring one side or the other."

He said staff members at the time felt the artwork was acceptable and chose to display it. He declined to say who made that decision.

Wickham said he didn't think the collages were discriminatory, but added, "I think I understand how someone could get that impression."

One photo showed a man with a white shirt and black hat, suspenders and pants standing on a ledge facing a clouded sky, communing with the heavens.

The writing said, "How can such a God-fearing man have such a husband-fearing wife?" At the bottom, a typewritten note said, "Good deeds in the community don't offset violent acts in the house."

Another photo had a sad-faced boy looking out the window of a car, with the words: "Growing up in a small town, he's safe from many of life's influences. Of course, we're still trying to do something about his father."

At the bottom, it said: "Children in violent homes are more likely to get involved in violent relationships."

Powell, 36, a software engineer, said he first saw the artwork when he was going through a divorce two years ago. He said the display upset him at the time, but he was too preoccupied with his personal situation to take action. However, when Gordon Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, died this year, Powell, a Mormon, said he re-read Hinckley's book, "Standing for Something: Ten neglected virtues that will heal our hearts and homes."

"Basically it states that we need to stand up, and that you can't lay down and cry about the world if you're not willing to do something about it," Powell said.

Powell said he has never been an activist, but he felt compelled by Hinckley's message.

"I've got two boys," he said. "I didn't want them to think that just because they're boys they will grow up to be wife beaters or abusers." He sent several e-mails to a county forum two weeks ago, but, not satisfied with the response, decided to come to the commissioners' meeting Monday

Bruce Fischer of Lacey, a friend of Powell's, said he also felt the collages were discriminatory.

"They paint a one-sided picture," Fischer said.

After the commissioners' meeting Monday, Powell's remarks were relayed to Thurston County Superior Court Judge Paula Casey, who oversees operations in the Family and Juvenile Court building at 2801 32nd Ave. S.W. in Tumwater. Soon after, Casey sent an e-mail to building staff to remove the artwork, which was located on the second floor along the wall of a corridor just outside the county prosecutors' office entrance.

Don Krupp, chief administrative officer for the county, said the Board of County Commissioners had no jurisdiction over the court buildings. He referred the matter to court offices and the county prosecutors.

Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Ed Holm, whose office is in the courthouse in Olympia, said later he had never seen the collages and had nothing to do with decisions about artwork in that building.

"No one in the prosecutors' office decorates the common areas of the Family and Juvenile Court building," Holm said.

Keri Brenner covers Thurston County for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5435 or kbrenner@theolympian.com.