In November of last year, the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens in Overland Park, Kansas installed “11 life-size bronze sculptures that were created and donated to the arboretum by Chinese sculptors,” among which was one of a “disjointed body of a young, bare-breasted woman, one thin arm extended to snap a photo of herself”:
Some local residents were so outraged by the statue that they sought, without success, to have it removed. So eventually the local chapter of the American Family Association stepped in, claiming that the statue encourages “sexting” and violates obscenity standards, and gathered some 4,700 signatures which have now been delivered to the county clerk in order to have city officials indicted by a grand jury:
Phillip Cosby regional head of the American Family Association delivered 4700 signatures to the county clerks office. He wants the artwork gone, and thinks Overland Park City officials could be indicted on obscenity charges.
“There’s more in the message here with the presence of the camera, the obvious come hither posture and the aroused breasts and all the sexual components. The statue is sending a message to children,” says Cosby.
