Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (or a statue), you’ve probably heard about the debate surrounding Wings of the City.

First — a recap. Wings of the City is a traveling art exhibit, consisting of nine bronze statues by world-renowned Mexican artist Jorge Marín, on display around Falls Park + the Peace Center from April-October. Greenville is the only city east of the Mississippi to join the ranks of other cities worldwide like Dubai, Mexico City, and Istanbul who’ve also hosted the exhibit.

One of the nine Wings of the City sculptures | Photo by @james_simpson_photography

The statues recently stirred up some controversy when a petition to remove them began circulating the internet. Why? The petition claims the statues are “indecent” + not “family-friendly.”

Very quickly, a counter-petition to keep the art installation began making its own rounds online. The petition urges city leaders to “continue to support the Wings of the City art installation” in our city, adding that Greenvillians “deserve to share culture and art in our streets…”

What people are saying on both sides:

"I’m keeping myself pure for marriage, and that 100% includes keeping my eyes pure. I thank God somebody warned me about the statues, because if I had gone downtown unknowingly, that would have robbed me of my innocence...” — Allison S. at Monday night’s city council meeting

“It’s so beautiful and brings so much fun & culture to an already amazing town. I’m so happy to have this exhibit here!!” — @jessikikicharles on the city’s Instagram post

The verdict:

Tuesday evening, the City of Greenville came out to share a message of support for the installation: “...while these sculptures may differ from the public art that Greenvillians have seen on display in the past, the City is proud of its strong partnership with the Hispanic Alliance and is honored to have been chosen to host this world-renowned exhibition.”

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