Twenty years ago, Pilot Point was rocked by controversy over a mural of a nude Eve, the apple and the hand of God on a wall overlooking downtown.
For those who don’t remember, here’s a refresher:
Pilot Point artist Justine Scott (then known as Justine Wollaston) painted a yellow, gold and black mural on a wall of the Farmers & Merchants Bank building at 100 N. Washington St. in downtown Pilot Point. She painted the image to suggest that Eve had the choice to become self-aware by taking a bite out of the apple.
The stylized nude painting created controversy, which led to a threat of arrest, insults, censorship of the painting and a lawsuit.
The painting caused controversy 20 years ago, but Scott knows it has become part of folk history in Pilot Point, she’s now embraced the incident with a musical comedy she wrote and is directing.
The Great Mural Fiasco will open this week, telling the true story of the two-year argument between the tiny town of Pilot Point and the city of Denton over the nude image of a woman. The production runs Nov. 3-12 at The Garage Door Theater, 110 S. Washington St.
If you goWhat: Garage Door Theater presents The Great Mural Fiasco, written and directed by Justine Scott
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10; 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12.
Where: The Garage Door Theater, 110 S. Washington St. in Pilot Point
Tickets: $15; $13 for seniors 60 and older, and $10 for children 10 and younger. Note that the show is not recommended for children under 13. For tickets, visit pilotpointoperahouse.org.
“I compiled a documentary play about exactly what happened in that two-year period — from the time she was painted till the time we got to take her top off,” Scott said of her painting of Eve. “And so, what I’m hoping to accomplish with the play is that people know aspects of the story. She’s part of our folk history now. Even people who disliked her at the time have embraced the fact that they have her.
“But nobody really knows the whole story. And so, what we aim to do with this musical comedy is to tell everybody the whole story.”
Scott remembers there were strong opinions from locals and media about whether the image was pornographic or not.
She started writing the musical about five years ago. She wrote the play from her perspective and gathered information from past news coverage from the Denton Record-Chronicle and online.
Scott remembers the threats Wes Miller, then-owner of the Farmers & Merchants building, received during the uproar over the mural.
Miller filed a lawsuit against the town of Pilot Point in 2005 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
According to the lawsuit, the Pilot Point Police Department repeatedly threatened, in writing, to prosecute Miller under a criminal statute for displaying hardcore porn.
Eve’s breasts were covered by mock “crime scene” tape due to the backlash.
“To avoid the expense and embarrassment of being charged, however baselessly, with such a sordid crime, Plaintiff was forced to cover Eve’s breasts before a deadline set by the Pilot Point Police Department,” Miller’s lawsuit reads.
Pilot Point eventually reached a settlement allowing the artwork be displayed in its original form.
Scott also remembers locals in Denton — in particular, the Record-Chronicle’s editors — helped fuel division between the towns.
“Editors at the time wrote some rather erudite editorials about Pilot Point residents’ conservative backlash towards the mural, and that started a big fight between the two towns,” Scott said.
A 2005 editorial by opinion editor Mike Trimble was titled “The naked lady heads for court”: “There seem to be two problems with Miller’s Eve, as rendered by North Texas artist Justine Wollaston: (1) She is as God made her, that is, naked as a jaybird, and (2) she is bigger than life on the exterior wall of Miller’s art gallery on the square in Pilot Point. ... Some of the good people of Pilot Point objected, and Miller was served notice that he didn’t cover Eve’s naughty bits, he would be charged with distributing harmful material to minors.”
Scott joked that she felt terrified and delighted when The Garage Door Theater organizers told her they had picked up her musical.
Attendees can expect to hear songs and hymns Scott wrote that will tell the story.
“The original song that I came up with, with some friends of mine, is called the nipple song — and it’s an absolute delight,” Scott said.
There are about 18 cast members, and Scott said everyone involved is having fun putting the play together.
“It’s irreverent fun — and we hope we don’t get run out of town,” she said jokingly. “We hope people come with a sense of humor.”