Being rude in the nude

While attempting to remodel their Evansville home in 20th century-style décor, residents Christopher Schapker and Kerry Niehaus situated a replica model of Michelangelo's David in their side yard.\nThe original nude sculpture, started in 1501 and completed in 1504, is of the Biblical personage just before he is to engage in combat with Goliath. According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Michelangelo sculpted the priceless figure with the artistic idea of "disegno," built on the consciousness of the male human form, and he believed the image of David was already in the marble stone he carved it from.\nSchapker and Niehaus bought a replica resin model of the figure for $2,000 in Canada, and their decision to place it in their yard was met with varying sentiments ranging from those with art-appreciative eyes to shaking parental fingers.\n"I heard quite a few honks whenever I was painting," Niehaus told the Evansville Courier & Press. He mentioned the UPS lady even stopped to comment on the statue's package.\nBut while some stop their cars in the middle of Schapker and Niehaus' street to admire and comment on the statue's beauty, concerned citizen Rosemary Durbin noted a playground of a children's disabilities services facility across the street is reason enough to take the statue down.\n"My daughter is going to be 4, and I don't even allow her in the bathroom with her daddy, so this definitely disturbs me," Durbin told the Courier & Press. "The statue's genitals are really hanging out."\nSchapker and Niehaus erected a black fence surrounding the statue, and legally, it doesn't even have to block it from view. And though police Chief Dave Gulledge told the Associated Press that no formal complaints had been filed, Schapker covered the statue with a carefully placed sheet to appease the complaining parents.\nThe move was generous, but was it enough?\nDurbin said the fence blocking the statue is up too high and doesn't cover anything due to the replica model standing on a pillar. \nNiehaus claims that he never thought of any possible ethical implications, and when he and Schapker considered moving it from the side yard out of the view of hundreds of disabled children, they didn't think to take it inside. They simply contemplated moving it to their front yard instead. \nHere on the Bloomington campus, we have a central landmark depicting the birth of Venus -- a nude sculpture representing the goddess of love and beauty. Showalter Fountain, along with many other artistic gems around campus, is displayed here at a public educational institution.\nOne must consider his or her audience when placing art that might be offensive. Here at IU, we judge the value of historical campus models (some nude, some not) with an educational eye and appreciate their artistic attributes as do those who attend museum exhibits or displays. \nAnd while Michelangelo's David is, in fact, a historical and artistic masterpiece, its obvious graphical nature is just a little tacky for outward residential display.