HAVE YOUR SAY: Heenan stands by Mt Evelyn youth mural drug claim research
18 Sep 09 @ 03:54pm by Bryan Allchin
Cr Heenan, who claimed in a council meeting on September 9 that the mural at the Youth Enterprise Shed contained references to illegal drugs, says his research proved parts of the mural referred to illegal drugs.
“There are websites, including Wikipedia that show the link to these figures having drug references,’’ said Cr Heenan’s statement, issued in reponse to yesterday’s media release by Morrisons. “I’m sorry but that’s what I read.’’
Meanwhile, a Facebook group created by supporters of the mural now has over 150 members, and youths in Mt Evelyn are preparing to hold another street art workshop next week, as part of school holiday activities.
The workshop will help design and paint a new mural at the shed, replacing the previous design which was painted over on Wednesday.
Updated Thursday, 6.15pm: THE Mt Evelyn youth shed mural, accused by a shire councillor of containing references to illegal drugs, has been painted over.
The colourful graffiti style mural, designed and painted by young people on a wall at the Youth Enterprise Shed, was replaced yesterday with a plain wall and text saying `Watch this space!’.
However, Morrisions which manages youth programs at YES, said the wall was not being painted over in response to Yarra Ranges Shire Cr Tim Heean’s claims that the mural referred to illegal drugs.
“The mural was painted over yesterday and had the words ‘watch this space!!’ painted on it,’’ said Morrisions in a statement to the media issued this afternoon.
“By no means is this an admission of any wrong doing or a sign of buckling under pressure.’’
“The wall was simply painted in preparation for the Street Art Workshops over the coming holidays. ‘’
“The Youth Enterprise Shed holiday program aims to design a new mural every holidays and therefore creating a fresh new look for a rather obscure corner of Mt. Evelyn’’
Cr Heenan’s claims that the mural referred to illegal drugs have also been rejected by the organistion.
“The Australian Drug Foundation informed us on Wednesday that `fresh’ can be an American reference to PCP, a drug which is not typically used in Australia,’’ the statement read.
“They provided us with the link to two American websites supporting this.’’
“Now if we were to censor youth and ban every word on any drug reference list in any country we would seriously limit the vocabulary of the next generation.’’
The colourful mural was painted on the side of the Youth Enterprise Shed in Wray Cres during the July school holidays.
The mural, depicting a pink elephant, the word “fresh”, a road runner and three green figures known as Bode Pucks, was the outcome of a legal graffiti workshop held at YES with funding from Mt Evelyn Community Bank.
At last Tuesday’s council meeting, Yarra Ranges Shire Cr Tim Heenan said he believed the mural contained references to drugs and he wanted it gone.
“I was approached by a young person who said: ‘All you adults are being taken as a joke, because that mural has direct references to drug-taking’,” Cr Heenan said.
Cr Heenan said the pink elephant referred to alcoholic cocktails and an illegal hallucinogenic drug known as PCP. Cr Heenan claimed the word “fresh” was street slang for PCP (also known as angel dust), while the road runner was associated with small, illegal amphetamine labs.
Cr Heenan said he wasn’t consulted about the mural and many residents thought it was inappropriate. He said he would demand the mural be removed and no further artwork be installed on any building in Mt Evelyn.
While Morrisons, which runs the Youth Enterprise Shed, was unable to comment before deadline, the young artists gave a different explanation for the work in a community newsletter.
The newsletter says the road runner stemmed from the word “express”, while the word “fresh” was used because the artists hoped this was the response people would give when they viewed the work.
When Leader saw the mural last week, a man, who gave his name as Nick, said he had been interested in graffiti art for 15 years and couldn’t identify any drug themes in the work. He noted that the Bode Pucks were created by cartoonist Vaughn Bode in the 1970s, who was influenced by psychedelic art.
“The Bode Pucks are popular with graffiti artists worldwide, but I don’t know whether the young people would know of the psychedelic connection,” Nick said.
