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'The Scout' in Kansas City, Mo., by Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944). Image by Macjohn4, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Billboards of ‘Scout’ sculpture removed amid racism claims

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
'The Scout' in Kansas City, Mo., by Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944). Image by Macjohn4, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
‘The Scout’ in Kansas City, Mo., by Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944). Image by Macjohn4, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Two artist-created billboards showing a rifleman aiming at an iconic Kansas City sculpture of an American Indian on horseback have been taken down.

The Kansas City Star reports that the billboards from artist A. Bitterman drew complaints after they went up last week in the Crossroads Arts District near downtown. They were supposed to remain on display until Oct. 21 but were removed Monday.

Kansas City Indian Center outreach coordinator Moses Brings Plenty had opposed the work as a symbol of racism and hatred. He said he was “very glad”’ the billboards were gone.

Bitterman rented the billboards and said on his website that The Scout sculpture shown on them depicts what whites wanted the American Indian to be. He says his work is “confronting that narrative.”

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-10-01-13 1137GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

'The Scout' in Kansas City, Mo., by Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944). Image by Macjohn4, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
‘The Scout’ in Kansas City, Mo., by Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1944). Image by Macjohn4, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.