Local ornament makes White House Christmas special
(Massachusetts College of Art and Design)
Jessica Swegel decorated the ornament with a farm landscape that depicts a tree and picket fence dusted with fresh snow.
By Mike Bello, Globe Staff
A Mission Hill art teacher is helping to bring Massachusetts' special brand of Christmas cheer to the White House.
 Jessica Swegel |
One artist from each of the nation's 435 congressional districts was asked to decorate a 9-inch circular ornament for the White House's official Christmas tree. Jessica Swegel, 29, was tapped by Representative Michael E. Capuano to craft a decoration for his district, which includes Cambridge, Somerville, Chelsea, and parts of Boston.
Swegel is in Washington today to attend a ceremony in the Blue Room, where First Lady Laura Bush will unveil the 20-foot Fraser Fir, replete with 400-plus handcrafted ornaments. For inspiration for her ornament, Swegel drew on her childhood in Western Massachusetts and decorated the ball with a farm landscape that depicts a tree and picket fence dusted with fresh snow.
"I guess [it is] everything that is the opposite of living in the city," Swegel said in a press release issued by Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she earned a bachelor and master's degree. "I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but that's what I think of when I think of Christmas and winter in the Berkshires. I’ve always loved the way the snow looks when it is undisturbed. It's hard to see that in the city.”
Swegel teaches photography and introduction to art at Stoneham High School. All 10 of the state's congressional districts were asked to select artists to design ornaments. The Lowell Sun reported today that a "little piece of Lowell will sparkle" in the White House ceremony. Janet Lambert Moore decorated a ball to represent Massachusetts' Fifth Congressional District that is "festooned with images of City Hall, a red-brick mill, swirling water, spindles and tributes to Jack Kerouac and Whistler's Mother."
While the ornaments are supposed to showcase something special about each congressional district, at least one of the artists is being called the equivalent of a Christmas Grinch.
Seattle-based artist Deborah Lawrence decided to use the ornament to make a lefty political statement, according to the Washington Post. Lawrence dedicated her globe to Representative Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington state who has supported a resolution to impeach President Bush.
The proposed impeachment is written about in tiny glued-on text that also salutes Washington state's 1919 labor strike, its suffrage movement, and the violent anti-World Trade Organization riots of 1999.
But this afternoon, the Post reported, White House said it would not hang Lawrence's ornament. Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for Laura Bush, called it "inappropriate.''
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Well, it /is/ inappropriate. Sure, Bush and Rove have politicized this country in profound ways, but that doesn't mean you have to sink to their level.
I probably would have designed an ornament with moving trunks decorated in Christmas lighting; as in "pack your bags and get OUT" ~ The BUSHs next move, come January. Arrivederci, DC!
I want my two minutes of life back for clicking on and reading this story. What a waste =/
They should have ornaments depicting hungry elderly people without healthcare begging for scraps of food from the President's holiday feast.
Shame on the Bush and all his conspiritors!
Why politicize Christmas?
Deborah Lawrence must be a doozie. Of what I am not quit sure but it is NOT AMERICAN, that is for certain! I have a question to Representative Jim McDermott, Democrat from Washington state who has supported a resolution to impeach President Bush. Where were you in the Clinton era? HE WAS A DISGRACE to this country!!! Heads of State did not trust that "man" around their wives, much less daughters. He had Osama Bin Laden under his authority and yet, LET HIM GO....a few years later WE HAD 911.
It is very inappropriate. The artist was suppose to show something about her district that would let it shine. If she wants to get "political" she should write her newspaper.....
All that Bush has done is inappropriate. 50 days left.
Actually, I would have preferred to have Bush, Cheney, Rove et al. hang an insulting ornament on my Christmas tree rather than nearly destroy the country. But that's just me.
Finially an article that doesn't have to do with someone dieing or kiling someone!!
Does one have to be a "Lefty" to want to uphold the constitution. Talk about biased journalism.
It figures it is some far left liberal kook from the West Coast. You got what you wanted - let's hope the Messiah Obama saves everyone!
Deborah Lawrence is just one example of many, on how some democats are, acting very inappropriate and unprofessional. But it does not suprise me, she is at the true democrat level ..an arrogant, angry, hateful and very rude person. As an European I have noticed this trate in Democrats after living here many years. You Democrats think you are better than Republikans in your country, you proof to me over and over again you are not, this is just another one of those times...
I live in Seattle, and thankfully, Deborah Lawrence does not represent
my district. Her act was thoughtless, tasteless, and bitter. May she receive a HUGE lump of coal in her stocking on Christmas morning!
The ornament has no place in the White House Christmas tree........C'mon, it's Christmas...... there are a lot of people who are tired of seeing ill-mannered and disrespectful Americans, especially during this season. Bush is leaving soon...isn't that enough?
Politicians stay away from Christmas!
Capuano represents Cambridge,Somerville and parts of Boston so the artist he chose painted an ornament that reminds her of the Berkshires because the city isn't pretty. Classic.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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