Sixteen paintings depicting the Life of Jesus Christ have been put up in Washington Square Park by the Ottawa Freedom Association for the last thirty years. And Pres. Lloyd Chapman is looking for volunteers to help again this year. The paintings depict the life from Jesus’s birth until his death.
He says the paintings the paintings have quite a history. They were the subject of a lawsuit from the 1980’s in which someone said that the paintings were offensive and shouldn’t be allowed in a public area.
A federal court later ruled that the paintings seen as a freedom of speech and allowed them to stay in the park. Chapman says he’s hoping for about twenty to thirty people to help put up the paintings Saturday, December 3rd starting at 8am. Last year, Attorney Jim Keely told WCMY that the paintings are heavy and it takes about four people per painting to get them set up.