{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"City of Ukiah Censors Youth Project Mural in Todd Grove Park","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":389,"description":"by Stacey Sheldon\r\n\r\nNovember 25, 2021--The City of Ukiah recently censored the message, “No Human is Illegal on Stolen Land” on the new mural in Todd Grove Park. The mural is the creation of the Ukiah Valley Youth Leadership Coalition, a teen program of the Arbor Center at Redwood Community Services. The teens, with the help of lead artist Josue Rojas, designed a large-scale mural on the theme of immigration, and painted it on the exterior walls of the park’s restroom. When Rojas and the teens arrived at the park on Friday November 12 to finish the mural, they saw something that shocked them. \r\n\r\nCat Karpov-Kinrad, one of the teen artists, explained that when the team showed up on Friday to complete the mural, they were greeted by a City official who informed them of the censorship. The teens saw that the message on the mural’s banner had been painted over. Karpov-Kinrad knew the message would be controversial, but did not imagine it would be censored before the mural’s completion.\r\n\r\nNeil Davis, Director of Community Services for the City of Ukiah, assisted the Coalition in implementing the project and fulfilling the youth’s artistic goals. Together, the Youth Coalition and Davis moved forward on the project. But waiting for approval from the city’s design board and planning commision takes approximately 3 months. Because the Youth Coalition was working with timely grants to fund the project, grants that would expire before the 3 month approval process, Davis suggested the mural be put on boards and installed on the exterior walls of the restroom. This method would result in what would be considered temporary art and would not require the lengthy wait for approval. \r\n\r\nProblems arose when the Youth Coalition realized they could not install boards on the walls of the restroom, and Davis gave them permission to paint directly on the restroom walls.\r\n\r\nWhen objections to the mural’s message were received by the City, Davis was asked to stymie the mural’s progress...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}