OWINGSVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A mural of pop singer Michael Jackson painted by students at an eastern Kentucky middle school has been halted after complaints from a local pastor.
The mural was the latest of about a dozen that have been painted in the hallways at Bath County Middle School. Visual arts teacher Lorraine Leadingham says a visit by an artist to her class prompted the start of a mural of the pop music icon, who died June 25.
WTVQ-TV in Lexington reports that Owingsville First Church of God Pastor Lowell Rice heard about the mural at his church. Rice approached the school officials to complain about the mural, questioning whether Jackson is an "appropriate role model."
Leadingham says midway through the painting, her principal told her to stop. She says she doesn't understand why the painting was nixed.
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