A public school district in Virginia had an urgent meeting of its board recently because some members wanted to restrict a high school student’s unconventional art, with one board member saying that the art showed a lack of respect for others.
The art in question is Abby Driscoll’s “But Not Enough to Save You,” which depicts hands praying with a rosary in front of pages from the Bible, dripping with rainbow colors. The words “GOD LOVES YOU BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU” are written on the pages.
The piece was intended to be one of several student works of art displayed in Fort Defiance High School’s spring show, which had a theme of “trauma.”
“The whole thing is about showing light through the darkness of trauma,” Driscoll told Staunton, Virginia’s News Leader Sunday. “That piece in particular was about religious trauma and trauma faced from not being accepted in a quote-unquote loving community. I wanted to accurately convey that. I know the message is powerful and direct, but I aimed to generate a sense of shock.
“This piece represents the idea that growing up queer meant you couldn’t be saved by God,” its description reads. “I grew up in a religious background and that influenced this project. The idea of the glowing red cross is to represent evil in the eyes of God and the bleeding rainbow represents devotion vs identity.”
Driscoll grew up religious in the deep red and rural Augusta County, and she experienced religious trauma, as well as homophobia from her community.
“In this county, it’s very hard,” Driscoll said. “There’s a lot of discrimination and backlash. A lot of non-accepting people.”
She said that her friends warned her that some people would be offended by the piece, but she didn’t expect all the backlash she got.
Driscoll displayed her work this past Friday, and she said that she started getting text messages from people about how pictures of her work were being shared on social media after someone got offended when they saw it in the lobby. At least two school board members were participating in the discussion and were critical of her work.
“I personally find it offensive,” said Augusta County School Board member Tim Simmons, who posted about it to Facebook.
“The School Board has called a special meeting tonight at 9:00 pm to discuss,” he told people on Facebook after saying that “several people” had asked him to respond to the artwork. “The School Board is working with our legal counsel and I am currently reviewing the Supreme Court rulings relevant to this situation.”
He added that he cared about “students’ free speech” but also wanted to create “a culture of respect within our schools.” He did not explain what about Driscoll’s work was disrespectful.
Driscoll’s family said that no one contacted them about the meeting, and she had to wait to find out through social media that the board decided to let her keep her work up. She said that “it means a lot” when she found out that her principal stood up for her.
That doesn’t mean things are all clear. Board chair David Shiflett mentioned that the district’s policy on approving art “needs some adjusting,” so future students may face stricter limitations on the ideas they can express.
“It opens a big can of worms,” Dawn Driscoll, Abby’s mother, said. “When you start adjusting freedom of expression, then you call into question whose viewpoint are you allowed to express then.”
But, she added, the fact that people were offended by this piece shows that it had an impact.
“I guess a lot of blowback or backlash against the piece kind of proves the message,” said Dawn Driscoll.
