Rolf Harris mural to remain behind blackened screen at Warrnambool's Lighthouse Theatre

A mural painted by convicted sex offender Rolf Harris at Warrnambool's Lighthouse Theatre will remain hidden from view despite calls for it to be destroyed.

A petition containing 245 signatures was presented to Warrnambool City Council last month calling for the artwork to be permanently erased, but Councillors voted this week to leave the painting covered by blackened perspex.

Warrnambool Councillor Kylie Gaston said the decision was about separating the art from the artist, and noted that "where the mural is you would never know it's there", adding “it's covered in a loading dock.

"It's not in a public area, there's equipment in front of it, it's really a non-thing.

"People will know that at this time we condemned those who did (the artwork) without condemning the art."

The mural, which was painted in 1986, was hidden in the wake of Harris's conviction and imprisonment in the United Kingdom for historic sex offences.

It is located backstage at the town's Lighthouse Theatre.

Councillors voted 4-3 in favour of leaving it covered and "putting the matter to rest".

Petition proponent Carol Altmann said the Council's decision to leave the artwork completely obscured was not good enough.

Altmann told the ABC "I'm quite ashamed of the fact Warrnambool has agreed to (leave the mural hidden).

"I think that indicates we're saying [that] no matter what this person has done … we actually still think his legacy is worth preserving."

Altmann said her petition to destroy the artwork had the support of sexual abuse survivors.

She added "I'm going to have a talk to some of those people who've been direct victims of sexual assault in and around Warrnambool and having a bit of a think about what we can do next to remount another argument down the track.

"I thought this was going to be something that was very easy for the council to decide, but it's ended up being an agonising decision for them.

"I'm still not sure why because to me murals come and go all the time.

"My view's always been that we either have to completely own that mural and say we accept that all art is most important above everything else, or we do what's happened elsewhere and we replace that mural with perhaps a mural by a local artist.

"In so doing, we offer a strong gesture of support to local victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault."

In the wake of Harris's conviction in a British court in 2014, various locations around Australia grappled with what to do with their Harris artworks.

A building supplies store in Caulfield painted over a British Paints advertisement made by Harris, while Bundaberg City Council placed a Harris painting into storage.

The town with the most difficult decision was Harris's hometown of Bassendean in Western Australia.

Known as the ‘Boy from Bassendean’, Harris's artworks adorned the town, forcing the council to figure out what to do with the various paintings and a plaque bearing the name of the favourite son turned convicted sex offender. 

Images: Rolf Harris completes his mural at Warrnambool's Lighthouse Theatre in 1986 (top) and a report on the removal of one of his paintings from a Canberra School (below). 

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