The Twelve Labors of Hercules (Spafford)

The Twelve Labors of Hercules is a series of murals by Washington State artist Michael Spafford commissioned in the early 1980s for the State of Washington. The works were completed in 1981 and permanently installed on the walls of the House of Representatives' chambers at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia;^[1] the building was designed in the 1920s to accommodate murals, but they were not funded until the 1970s.^[2] The "stark, black-and-white, modernistic" paintings depict "the mythic tasks performed by the Greek hero Hercules".^[3]

The murals were covered by the state government a few weeks after their initial installation by plywood sheets behind a curtain pending their removal after a 1982 House vote,^[1][4][5][6] when some lawmakers^[who?] objected to their content, perceived by some^{[weasel words]} as sexually suggestive^{[clarification needed]}. The murals were separated from the House chamber walls in 1993 and put in storage.^[7][8] The dispute between the state legislature and the artist, becoming a lawsuit for breach of contract against the state, gained note in art and legal journals,^[5][9] and law reference books;^[10] the Columbia Law School's Journal of Law & the Arts called it "striking example of suppression of artistic freedom".^[11] The Seattle Art Museum said the question of Spafford's artistic freedom became "a state-wide debate".^[12]

The murals were eventually acquired by Centralia College in 2002 following a decade of negotiations with the artist, and installed in the college's Corbet Theatre.^[13] They were put on display in October 2003 following a symposium on "the legal, ethical^{[clarification needed]} and emotional^{[clarification needed]} issues" surrounding their history.^[6] The history of the Spafford murals and another set by Alden Mason removed from the capitol in 1987,^[14] is documented in From Capitol to Campus: The Alden Mason and Michael Spafford Murals.^[15]

Spafford won the commission for four murals to be installed in the Washington State Legislature's House chambers in the Capitol Building in Olympia.^[16] Spafford selected the twelve labors of Hercules as the theme, which he felt was an appropriate trope "for the conflicts and Challenges of lawmaking."^[16] Spafford "couldn't see any reason^{[clarification needed]} why it would be considered inappropriate."^[17] The twelve labors were to be depicted on two half circular murals facing each other across the legislative chambers. A third mural would be a large Chimera, breathing fire, on the rear wall facing the speaker of the house. A version of Icarus, providing a theme of hubris, would be above and behind the speaker's podium.^[16] The initial proposal was selected by a jury including architects, arts educators and art patrons from a very competitive proposal process. Spafford made a point during the jury process that some people^[who?] considered his themes controversial^{[among whom?]} and it was clear during the proposal process that the themes involved illustrated a critique of the legislative process.^[16][17] Spafford was awarded the commission in September 1980 along with a set of two murals by another University of Washington professor, Alden Mason (1919-2013) for the Senate chambers.^[16]

Both artists displayed drawings and specific plans for their proposals during a reception in Olympia. No legislators attended.^[16] Spafford's set of two Hercules labors murals with six labors on each wall were installed in the House chambers in July 1981. They caused an immediate uproar which exposed many aspects^{[clarification needed]} of how the legislature paid attention to business. After months of debate, the Washington State House voted to drape the murals, completely covering them up and cancelling the remaining two panels.^[16]

Later a judge awarded Spafford $35,000 for the cancelled murals.^[16] The murals were uncovered in 1989, then in 1993 four years later removed entirely and stored, at a cost of $162,200 to Washington State taxpayers—almost double what Spafford was awarded initially to create them.^[16]

The mural battle eventually lasted for years, including numerous hearings, media coverage, a lawsuit, and taxpayer expense becoming a Pacific Northwest legend of bureaucratic folly.^[4][5] Interestingly, Alden Mason's murals for the Senate had also been removed because "they were too abstract for their setting."^[16] Thus the Washington State legislature spent close to an estimated half million tax dollars for blank walls.^[16]

Both the Spafford and Mason completed murals were eventually recovered from storage and installed at the Centralia College in Centralia, Washington, the college installing the Mason murals in its main library in 1991.^[16] In 1993 Spafford's Hercules murals were installed in Centralia College's Corbet Theatre, the college's new performing arts center.^[3][7] Spafford refused to attend the unveiling ceremony, stating that he would rather see the site-specific work destroyed than displayed.^[16] Don Frey, Centralia College spokesman, defended the public's right to see the "irreplaceable pieces of art."^[13]

• Cassandra Tate (December 14, 2013). "Michael Spafford – Herculean controversy". Museum of Northwest Art.