By
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - An artist has painted a loincloth over a nude figure of the crucified Jesus in a mural on a new building at Kennedy International Airport after construction workers complained.
The figure's nudity prompted a worker to contact the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Newsday reported yesterday.
David Sigman, development general manager for terminal builder and operator JFK IAT, said Deborah Masters, the mural's artist, willingly changed the mural.
"We didn't bring it before the mayor's panel," Sigman said, referring to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's newly established committee charged with setting a "decency standard" for art in city-funded museums.
Masters, who created 28 sculpted reliefs for the airport's new international arrivals building, did not immediately return a phone call to her home yesterday.
The 8-by-10-foot reliefs depict city street scenes. The image of Jesus is about 18 inches high.
The mural is to be unveiled when the new terminal opens on May 24.
