![]() ![]() "A fascinating overview of a case that encapsulates many of the bitterest divisions of our era. "Not to be missed." -San Francisco Chronicle It also illuminates a work of art that roiled the city and the nation." -San Francisco Examiner Town Destroyer sheds new light on our first president. " Town Destroyer makes you stop and think - which is a brave and even dangerous thing to do in today's America." -David Talbot, New York Times best-selling author of The Season of the Witch Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History, Stanford University The discussion it inspired was spirited, memorable, and wonderfully congenial." -Steven J. At the heart of the film about the high school controversy are issues as pertinent - and complex - as artistic freedom, the politics of trauma, and the wages of historical accuracy. "Snitow and Kaufman are splendid, deeply thoughtful documentary filmmakers, and their film Town Destroyer about San Francisco's Washington High School murals is a work of real importance. "Victor Arnautoff’s breathtaking masterpiece of muralism is illuminated in this thoughtful, balanced, and insightful film.” -Susan Kelk Cervantes, Founding Director, Precita Eyes Muralists Association Nichols Professor of American History, University of Pennsylvania The film helped them to articulate their own disparate views on controversial art and to respectfully discuss challenging issues of inclusion and diversity." -Kathy Peiss, Roy F. " Town Destroyer stimulated one of the most engaging discussions we have had among the students in my course on modern American cultural history. "An important contribution towards understanding contemporary generational perspective in relation to Native lived experiences, art, histories, and education." -John-Carlos Parea, Chair, American Indian Studies, San Francisco State University of Liberal Arts, Kansas City Art Institute These were art school students very attuned to social issues, but they had never learned much about Native American history, especially from a non-white supremacist standpoint." - Kara Heitz, Dept. I actually had another topic planned for the third hour of class, but we skipped that entirely so we could continue the conversation sparked by the film. "The response was fantastic in my 1930s American cultural history class. of Ramaytush Ohlone, the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula ![]() " Town Destroyer prompts a critical examination of the role and limits of provocation in art, especially in regards to who provokes whom." - Jonathan Cordero, Exec. Kelley, and others who speak to the difficulty and imperatives of listening to each other. (Cheyenne) and Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche), artists Dewey Crumpler and Judith Lowry (Maidu-Pit River), UCLA Historian Robin D.G. On our journey we meet with art curators Rick West Jr. How should a changing society deal with controversial works of art? Do the intentions of the artist matter? or just the impact on viewers? Is it censorship to destroy murals that show painful histories? What does our country owe people who have been historically wronged? The fight-taking place in the wake of battles over Confederate monuments across the U.S.-becomes a catalyst for a national discussion about censorship, reparations, generational trauma, the ways in which America's history of genocide and slavery is taught and memorialized, and the differences between monuments built to further white supremacy and art that critiques racism. Defenders of the murals warn of the dangers of censoring priceless works of art, and urge the Board to `teach the murals.' Heated debates spill into the community and make national headlines. For them, the murals' graphic depictions of slavery and genocide are racist and harm students, Native students in particular. Opponents of the murals, led by Native American parents, demand the School Board order them painted over. Most controversial is a provocative image of a dead Indian-life-size, eye-level, and at the center of the school. The murals both praise Washington and-rare for the time-critically depict him overseeing his slaves and directing the bloody seizure of Native lands. The murals, at San Francisco's George Washington High School, were painted in 1936 by leftwing artist Victor Arnautoff, a student of Diego Rivera. The story focuses on a dispute over historic murals depicting the life of George Washington: slaveowner, general, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called "Town Destroyer" after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War. Town Destroyer explores the ways we look at art and history at a time of racial reckoning. ![]()
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