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HERALD EXPRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2009 5www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk NEWS
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THE paintings of an 18-year-oldautistic girl are at the centre of arow between Torbay Counciland her parents.
The girl has had her paintings ond i s p l ay a t r e n ow n e d p l a c e sincluding the London based Saatchiand Hoffman galleries plus exhibi-tions at Exeter Cathedral, TorbayLeisure Centre and a gallery inTotnes.
The girl attended Mayfield School inTorquay until her parents removed herfrom the school in May after the disputestarted.
Her family say they had no knowledgeher artwork was being distributed by theschool.
They claim it was done without theirconsent and are considering legalaction.
However, Torbay Council has told thesolicitors they believe the artwork wasdistributed with the full consent of thefamily.
The mystery deepened when it wasclaimed that one of the girl’s paintingswas given to Britannia Royal NavalCollege in Dartmouth, but the collegesay they have no knowledge of thepainting.
The family claim the naval collegereceived a painting in response to dona-tions it had made to the school.
A letter sent to the family’s solicitor onbehalf of Mayfield School said the navalcollege has supported the school formany years and donated money to theschool through that time. It said thatafter one of the girl’s paintings wasadmired by the college a painting wasgiven to the naval college.
However a spokesman for the navalcollege said: “The college commander isnot currently aware that we have eitherreceived a painting or paid any donationfor a painting from Mayfield School.
“We are investigating further and wewould not wish to be involved inanything that will give cause for concernto the parents.”
Work has also found its way to thegallery of the Hoffman Foundation forAutism which has sold three pictures.
A representative of the Hoffman Foun-dation confirmed it had sold three paint-ings.
They said the school sent the work tothe foundation and had the foundationnot been contacted by the family theproceeds would have been sent toMayfield School.
Ian Wilson, art and craft coordinatorfor the Hoffman foundation, added: “Inmany cases it is the teachers who takethe initiative and submit work.
“They should be congratulatedbecause this girl has had her work in anexhibition in London and she has donevery, very well.”
The youngster’s paintings were alsoon display at Exeter Cathedral.
A spokesman for Exeter Dioceseconfirmed Mayfield School hadsubmitted the art to the exhibition.
The family say the work was displayedwithout their knowledge and they wereangry because the girl has a Jewishheritage.
The family claim they were told by the
person running the exhibition thatMayfield School said the girl had givenher consent.
However, the family said this would beimpossible as, due to her autism, she istotally non-verbal.
Torbay Council said that in light of arecent solicitor’s letter the work hasbeen withdrawn from the exhibition.
Top London gallery Saatchi has somework displayed on their website.
The girl was entered into the SundayTelegraph school art prize competitionheld by the gallery.
A spokesman from the Saatchi Galleryconfirmed: “The girl’s work wassubmitted online by her school but hasnot so far been selected by one of thejudges to be exhibited at the SaatchiGallery.
“We do not actively seek to sell any ofthe works exhibited at the gallery unlesssomeone is interested in buying it andwe would never agree to selling astudent’s work without the parents’approval first, following which allproceeds would go the artist/family inquestion.”
The family said they had no idea thework was being distributed and werealso unaware of the talent their daughterhad.
They have instructed lawyers to try toget their daughter’s work returned afterthey pulled her out of the school.
The girl’s mum said: “We are devas-tated, we thought these people were ourfriends.”
She added: “We knew she was good atart but we had no idea she was that good.The paintings sent home from the schoolare nothing like the paintings in theexhibitions.
“It is wonderful that she is so good atart and everybody wants to buy herwork. But we were not told what wasgoing on.
“We are really, really shocked by whathas happened.
“We are not bothered about money, wejust want to know what has happened toher artwork and why the school won’tgive it back.”
M a y f i e l d S c h o o l d e c l i n e d t ocomment.
A spokesperson for Torbay Councilsaid: “Torbay Council’s Legal Services isacting on behalf of Mayfield School inrespect of communication received fromthe parents’ solicitors and, therefore, itwould be inappropriate to comment onthis issue any further.”
Autistic girl’s art worksent to major galleries
■ ABOVE AND LEFT: Two ofthe paintings that were senthome by Mayfield School asan example of the artwork thestudent had been doing.BELOW: Mayfield School
But parentssay it’s
been donewithoutconsent
By JENNA RICHARDS
“ ”We are devastated, we thoughtthese people were our friends.
The girls’ parents
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