Retired Art Teacher Sentenced to Jail for Refusing to Remove Pointed Art Display
A retired art teacher has been sentenced to 20 days in jail after he refused a judge’s order to clean up an art display on his property deemed to be unsafe to young children.
Lewis Greenberg, 66, argues that the city of Ballwin, Mo., wants him to remove his art because some find it offensive, violating his constitutional right to free speech, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Judge Lawrence Permuter imposed the jail sentence along with a $1,000 fine after Greenberg told the court he has no plans to clean up the artworks.
Greenberg plans to appeal. He was convicted of violating city ordinances barring littering and storing of hazardous materials.
According to a Chicago Tribune story, Greenberg’s art project consists of “clusters of colorful, twisted metal and wooden spikes on his front lawn” and silver bowls hanging from trees. St. Louis Today posted photos last year. The display is intended to be a statement about the Holocaust.
Ballwin prosecutor Keith Cheung said he gave Greenberg’s lawyer a list last week of items that should be removed or changed to make the display safe, according to the story. One of Cheung’s ideas is to cut off pointed wooden planks to make them blunt.
Ballwin was named “One of America’s Best Places to Live” by Money Magazine in 2005.
