The Surfing Madonna Complex: A Political Awakening in Encinitas

"She appeared on Good Friday beneath a railway bridge in the California beach town of Encinitas: the Virgin of Guadalupe calmly surfing a cobalt blue wave, her cloak pointing toward the words 'SAVE THE OCEAN.' 'The train bridge created the perfect frame for a work of art,' says Mark Patterson, who left his software career to create the 10-foot-square 'Surfing Madonna' mosaic, planning each detail down to the black booties on the Virgin’s feet.
. . .
Encinitas Councilman Jerome Stocks claimed Catholics were offended by a surfing Virgin Mary. Patterson disagrees: 'The local padre at the Catholic church in town loved it.' The city also suggested the artwork might violate the First Amendment clause that prohibits state-established religion. But in the words of Patterson’s lawyer Anton Gerschler, 'Nobody can look at that piece and seriously say for a minute that the government is asking people to become Catholics or surfing Catholics or worshippers of Madonnas on surfboards.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Atlantic Cities
On:  10/18/11
Website:  http://www.theatlanticcities.com

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