ALLENDALE, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Allendale, Michigan, has quietly removed from its provost’s office a blasphemous “art” display that mocks the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Senior Noah Mullins, who has been leading the fight to have the installation removed since last year, confirmed with LifeSite earlier today that the school took the image down sometime in the last few weeks after it had been installed in the provost’s office sometime this summer.

While not visible to the public, the display hung on the wall opposite Sean Lancaster’s office. Lancaster is the associate vice president for academic affairs. Dr. Jennifer A. Drake serves as the school’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

BREAKING: Grand Valley State University (@GVSU) reinstalls blasphemous ‘art’ display mocking the Blessed Virgin Mary. Shame on @PhillyGVPres

Read more: https://t.co/ziyLftuKtZ pic.twitter.com/rgr68iD8dF

— Stephen Kokx (@StephenKokx) August 25, 2025

Mullins told LifeSite that he is pleased that the display was removed from the provost’s office but that Grand Valley has not gone far enough in taking the necessary step to discard it altogether.

“Although we are happy to see this horrendous installation removed again, our commitment remains to the full removal of the piece from the collection. GVSU must give up ownership of this piece and rid itself of this monstrosity. We’re asking anyone who wishes to support us in this cause to call the President’s office and urge the full surrender or sale of the piece to an unaffiliated collection,” Mullins said via text message.

To join Mullins in his fight, consider reaching out to the following GVSU officials and calling on them to permanently remove the display.

• Philomena Mantella, president, Grand Valley State University, (616) 331-2100, [email protected]
• Chris Knape, (616) 331-2953, [email protected];
• Nathan Kemler, Director of Galleries, (616) 331-3638 or (616) 331-8122, [email protected].

The display, officially titled “Petals of Change,” was originally installed in GVSU’s Kirkhof Student Center on its Allendale campus, which is about 20 miles west of Grand Rapids, the second largest city in the state. The school receives around $100 million in taxpayer dollars per yer.

The image was created by alumna Irlanda Beltran and bought by the school for $1,800. Beltran identifies as “LatinX” and claims her “artwork” explores “cultural and contemporary issues, addressing topics such as gender-based violence, mental health, gun control, and homophobia.”

Among other things, “Petals of Change” includes three digitally altered images of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pro-LGBT and leftist slogans that promote abortion are scattered across the canvas, which also features sexually explicit LGBT-themed images.

LifeSite reached out to assistant vice president of communications Chris Knape in February following outcry from students, local Catholics, and state lawmakers. He said the school was going to be “relocating” the display from the Kirkhof Center “to a space where it can be presented with greater context.”

From there, the display was sent to storage at the school’s art gallery.

An anonymous student at Grand Valley told LifeSite this past spring geography professor Heather Moody forced her students to visit the display. The student was enrolled in Moody’s course and informed LifeSite they were spiritually disturbed when she forced them to do an assignment on the image. The student said Moody informed her class she would rather stand with the artist than with those who were “offended” by it.

LifeSite emailed Knape, Lancaster, Drake, and the school’s art museum on October 6 seeking clarification about the display when it was still hanging in the provost’s office but did not receive a response.

Mullins previously told LifeSite that Moody is not the only professor who has expressed support for the image, which is clearly sacrilegious.

He noted that art professor Brett Colley wrote a letter to school officials last spring on behalf of more than 20 of his colleagues. The letter said they were “deeply troubled over the chilling effect” alleged caused by the decision to take the display down in the Kirkhof Center.

In an interview with left-wing website Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy in March, Colley downplayed the blasphemous nature of the image. He claimed that it was simply meant to “promote dialogue” and that Catholic students at Grand Valley were overreacting. He also referred to Our Lady of Guadalupe not as a woman but as an “it.”

Mullins told LifeSite that he will not stop defending the honor of Our Lady and that he will do everything he can to ensure the image is taken down for good before he graduates in December.