Excerpt:
Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce is raising questions about a public art project that will contain religious symbols, saying she is concerned about blending faith and government.
Mounce's questions grow from inquiries by Lodi citizen David Browda, who is deeply concerned about the artwork and who wrote a letter to the editor regarding it. Browda is upset that the mosaic includes a crescent and star, reflecting Islam.
Mounce, however, is concerned about the principle of mixing religion and public art, and is not taking issue with the inclusion of an Islamic symbol.
The mosaic was designed by three high school students as part of a contest for Project Lodi Art, a community-wide effort overseen by the city's Arts Commission to get people involved in art projects. Volunteers are creating the tile mosaics, which will be installed when the city reconstructs Lodi Avenue this summer. In a letter to the News Sentinel, Browda said that because of the war on terror and the "onslaught of radical Islam," the city of Lodi should not include the symbol. He compared including the symbol in the artwork to including a Nazi symbol during World War II, Browda said Tuesday.