Oxford Politics Hamstrings Art Project

A school teacher whose community art project has become mired in Oxford politics broke her silence on the issue in the form of a letter sent to First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers.

In the letter, teacher Karen Giannamore asks town officials to reconsider the decision to prohibit an art project from being displayed at Oxford Town Hall.

I wrote a personal letter to Mrs. Drayton-Rogers almost two weeks ago now and sent copies to the other Selectmen. I hoped that in explaining the purpose of the project, she would see that there were no political undertones. However, I have received no response,” Giannamore said in an e‑mail to the Valley Independent Sentinel.

The letter is published at the end of this article.

Giannamore is an art teacher at Great Oak Middle School. She obtained grants during the last school year to create a community mandala,” an art project meant to promote unity in town.

Members of the community were invited to create small dolls that were placed on the outer rings of the circular art project, which resembles a large wreath on an easel. 

The problem — one of the dolls has KOG” written on it.

KOG” stands for Keep Oxford Green.”

Keep Oxford Green is a political action group formed to oppose high-density housing in Oxford. Its co-founder, Tanya Carver, is running as a Republican for a seat on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

Drayton-Rogers, a Democrat who is not seeking a third term as First Selectwoman, said political messages are barred from Town Hall — even ones scribbled on dolls.

When it was presented to the Town Hall I was willing to accept it. But it has the political action initials, KOG, on the mandala. Our ethics statement for the Town Hall I think would be violated if I was to display any political action materials in the Town Hall,” Drayton-Rogers said.

The mandala:

Oxford Mandala

A full statement from Drayton-Rogers was published by Oxford Patch in August, in which Drayton-Rogers said hanging the art would violate the town’s code of ethics.

A review of the Oxford Code of Ethics posted on the town’s website does not show a section dealing with political messages in Town Hall. Click here to download the document.

The town’s code of ethics has a section on political activities, which applies to Oxford officials and employees. 

The code of ethics: 

  • Prohibits political activity from interfering with the duties of public officials or employees
  • Bars public officials or employees from being ordered to participate in political activities
  • Bars public officials and employees from using town telephones for pure political use”

Rose McKinnon, the chairwoman of the Oxford Board of Education, played a key role in publicizing the mandala, telling the Valley Indy in April that the project was meant to promote unity.

McKinnon, a Republican, published a column in Oxford Patch in August offering to add a disclaimer to the mandala, advising people it’s not political. McKinnon didn’t return a call or e‑mail for comment Monday.

Drayton-Rogers said the KOG reference needs to be removed before it can be displayed in Town Hall.

I will not lower my standards of ethics that I’ve upheld over four years in office. I simply will not be bullied or forced into doing it. I’ve made my position very clear,” Drayton-Rogers said.


Should the mandala be displayed in Oxford Town Hall?

First Amendment Violation?

Meanwhile, Giannamore said she has remained silent on the issue because she didn’t want to get dragged into Oxford politics. She spoke out this week in an attempt to clarify the project’s purpose.

Her letter to Drayton-Rogers dated Sept. 23 gives background on the art project and its goal — to have Oxford school children and Oxford adults work side-by-side to create art.

The teacher said art is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — and that the First Amendment should take priority over any political squabble inadvertently triggered by the project.

I do not know much about Keep Oxford Green, and I don’t know whether they are affiliated with any political group or not,” Giannamore wrote. Perhaps the letters KOG were written by a member of the group or someone who sympathizes with their cause. It should not matter when it comes to hanging art in a public building.”

Carver — the co-founder of Keep Oxford Green — said she did not contribute to the mandala project. She doesn’t know who wrote the letters on the doll.

I haven’t personally seen what that is,” Carver said of the mandala. We weren’t there so we don’t know who would have done it.”

Oxford Teacher Letter

Keep local reporting alive. Donate.ValleyIndy.org