Teacher Marty Scanlon gave his advanced art class at Helena High School an assignment to make a chair out of the material of their choice. The only requirement was that it be useable as a chair.

Senior Jana Barros designed a chair adorned with pink ribbon and strategically attached unclad Barbie dolls. The chair also had the word "false" written a couple of dozen times in pink glitter glue.

Barros said she was trying to send a message about the unrealistic body image Barbie dolls represent.

But the chair, which was among pieces in a hallway art display, was offensive to some female staff members who voiced their concern to Claudia Morley, the school's assistant principal.

"They told me they felt it was very distasteful," Morley said.

After visiting with Barros, Morely said she understood the idea the student was trying to convey about beauty only being skin deep.

Morely said she began talking to the people who had expressed an opinion about the chair, but didn't make any determination to remove it from the display.

Scanlon said he made that decision because he didn't want the conversations to get heated, and admitted that maybe he jumped the gun a bit.

The staff members who were offended by the art declined to comment.

Students have the freedom in Scanlon's art classes to create and express themselves freely without any sort of censorship, he said, but sometimes the pieces that push the envelope don't leave the art wing.

Initially, Barros wanted to make the chair completely out of the dolls, but it wouldn't have supported itself structurally, so it wouldn't have met the assignment's criteria.

The chair is meant to look pretty but not be comfortable, to oppose the concept that all girls are supposed to aspire to look like a Barbie.

"Barbies are what a child grows up thinking they should be and look like," Barros said. "And, that criteria doesn't fit for all girls."

Barros said her intent was merely to cause discourse, not discomfort.

"I didn't expect people to be offended, but maybe stand up for our differences," she said.

"I must assume they didn't really take the time to really think about what the piece of art was saying," she said. "I wasn't the one who created Barbie."

HHS Principal Greg Upham said he has to think about the entire school community and having an art display in a hallway doesn't allow for the option not to view it.

"It's not like an art museum -- we have an audience that doesn't have a choice," he said. "We try to be respectful to all."

Barros said she isn't satisfied with that answer, but doesn't have any recourse.

"It's not OK to censor," Barros said, adding that just because someone doesn't like to look at a piece of art doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.

Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com