WEST UNION, Ohio — Amber Greenfield is a freshman at West Union High School with an interest in art and politics.
“I’m really big on like political issues and standing up for people,” Greenfield said.
That’s why when her art class was assigned to create a mural inspired by Australian artist Buff Diss, who creates murals out of tape, she was excited.
“I chose to do something for Women’s History Month,” Greenfield said. “I wanted to say kinda, my body, my choice and be a voice for young women.”
The mural Greenfield created depicts a man crossing his arms next to the outline of a woman. The woman is pregnant, with a fetus shown in her stomach, and has a piece of tape over her mouth and her hands tied behind her back.
WATCH: Greenfield's message behind her mural and why some say it's "inappropriate"
“The duct-tape over the mouth really represented how women’s voices are always shunned," Greenfield said. "And then the hands being tied back, how they’re always like kind of trapped.”
However, some in the district disagree.
I spoke with Adams County Ohio Valley School District Superintendent Dawn Wallace, who said the mural was “inappropriate” and “depicted bondage and teen pregnancy.”
Greenfield has had several meetings with Wallace and the school's principal. She told us she doesn't see the same depictions as Wallace.
“I really didn’t see that. I think they just really had a very closed mind about it," Greenfield said. "I don't think they wanted to look into what this really means."
Wallace told WCPO 9 News she has given Greenfield the opportunity to alter her mural, saying she doesn’t have a problem with the message she is trying to share but rather with how she’s done it.
Greenfield told me she’s not sure if she’ll alter it.
“Art is supposed to get people talking," she said. "I don't know if I’m going to alter it. I might just let it be.”
Greenfield did agree to remove the fetus from the mural, and Wallace ordered for the tape over the woman’s mouth and hands to be removed. The entire mural is now covered up.
“I was extremely hurt, cause not only did I pay for this tape. I couldn’t believe that they approved something that I was so strong about, and now they’re trying to take it away,” Greenfield said.
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