Artist Kelsey Shwetz is continuing her artwork on the corner of Ellice and Banning, painting darkened silhouettes over the penciled figure of Karl Marx. Shwetz may have hoped to immortalize her art in the project; instead, she got an unexpected splash of celebrity.

The figure of the German writer and political philosopher credited by many as the founding father of socialism was prominent in the mural up until last week, when Shwetz began to paint over her original sketch.

It has garnered the young artist a lot of media attention over the last month as the subject of a heated debate over the mural’s perceived commemoration of communism.

Shwetze was allegedly asked to remove the figure by the West End Biz.

Darrell Rankin, leader of the Communist Party of Manitoba, called the incident unfortunate.

“The West End Biz is censoring art for its narrow selfish purposes,” he said, adding Winnipeg has a history of attacking working culture.

“The workers in the 1919 General Strike were inspired by Marx and Lenin. You can’t change history, but you can try to hide it.”

Rankin was hopeful that the artist would not change her art.

“Most artists are not conscious about the role they play in changing society,” he said.

Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner, executive director of the West End Biz, denies there was any censorship involved, saying that the figure of Marx was never supposed to be there.

“It was a mistake by the student,” she said. “It was to be a typical figure that represented the immigrant in the 19th century.”

Cardwell-Hoeppner said that neither the student nor anyone at West End Biz realized who it was, and it was not the intention of the artist to have a notable figure in the work.

“No creativity was squashed,” she said. “It was an error due to a lack of research.”

She also expressed dismay over the national attention the mural was receiving.

“There was so much negative publicity,” she said, adding that it was taking away from the story of the student. “It was embarrassing for the youth involved.”

The West End Biz’s mural projects usually involve local artists in a mentorship program, teaching local youth art skills with paints sometimes donated by local businesses. The program currently has 4 murals in the process of being painted.

“The murals make a positive difference,” Cardwell-Hoeppner said. Not only do they deter graffiti but they also beautify the neighbourhood, she added.

Shwetz, a fourth year University of Manitoba art and psychology student, refused to comment on the whole situation, but said the work is influenced by Russian constructivism.

“That movement rejected art for art’s sake, and thought art should be used for social purposes,” she said.

Shwetz started researching for the project in May and starting painting in July. Part of the work depicts the General Strike, which Shwetz said represents a fear of the Russian Revolution repeating here.

“There was a repression of the Bolshevik relationship,” she said of the strike.

Shwetz, who is Ukrainian, said the mural depicts European culture and social progress around 1919. She points to a steel tower which was planned to be erected by Russian architect Vladimir Tatlin, but was never finished.

“It’s a metaphor for the grand idea that was never fully realized due to lack of resources,” she said.

Shwetz expects to finish the mural by the end of August, when there will be a public unveiling.