CHARLESTON – The company that completed the mural project at the state Capitol that includes a likeness of Gov. Jim Justice’s beloved Babydog denies any wrongdoing and stands by its work.
John Canning & Company Ltd. filed answers October 4 to two lawsuits filed in August by Gregory Morris and Tom Acosta against several state officials and the company.
In the complaints, the plaintiffs seek to have the murals removed and to have Canning and Department of Arts, Culture and History Secretary Randall Reid-Smith cover the costs of the litigation.
The defendants named in the complaints are the Ad Hoc Committee for Final Approval of Capitol Murals, Reid-Smith, State Treasurer Riley Moore, Acting Administration Secretary John McHugh and John Canning & Company Ltd. Reid-Smith is named as chairman of both the West Virginia Capitol Building Commission and the Ad Hoc Committee.
In the answers, Canning says it is a vendor and not a “spending officer” in this matter and is not required to disgorge or repay funds paid to it by the state. It also says the relief sought would result in a windfall for the state and/or the plaintiffs, would result in economic waste, would result in undue hardship or unfairness to Canning and would have an adverse effect on public interest.
“At no time did Canning have a purpose or effect to lessen competition among prospective vendors,” the answers state. “At no time did Canning have a purpose or effect to cause Canning to be preferred over one or other prospective vendors.”
The answers go into detail about how architect Cass Gilbert’s plans for the state Capitol included sculptures, artwork, landscaping and murals that were not completed originally in 1932.
Canning says it believed it was contracting and working with state officials who had proper and/or apparent authority.
“The accusation that Canning resorted to civil conspiracy to secure this commission is unfounded and absurd,” the answers state. “Since being commissioned, Canning has worked diligently on the murals in the Capitol. As of the filing of (these lawsuits), the murals are complete and fully installed.”
The answers explain Canning is a nationally respected architectural arts restoration contractor with more than 45 years of experience. It lists historic buildings it has worked on, including Grand Central Station, Union Station, the White House, the U.S. Capitol and Wheeling’s Independence Hall.
“Notwithstanding, the complaint attacks Canning’s work and murals on aesthetic and creative grounds, thereby revealing the true heart of this lawsuit – artistic differences,” the answers state. “Indeed, this lawsuit was not filed when the commission was originally made, when the state government announced in April 2024 that Canning was commissioned to do the murals or while Canning was completing its work. …
“Plaintiff’s use of hostile and disparaging language in the complaint to describe Canning’s work belongs more in art critique than in a legal instrument designed for the redress of supposed grievances.”
In a statement released September 4, Reid-Smith said the lawsuits seem “to be based on their misunderstanding of the history and facts of the murals project, as well their misunderstanding or misrepresentation of West Virginia procurement and open governmental proceedings laws.”
In his statement, Reid-Smith says famed architect Cass Gilbert designed the West Virginia State Capitol in the midst of the Great Depression in the 1920s and, because of limited resources, murals were not commissioned. But he says Gilbert called for murals to be painted in the rotunda when funds became available.
The plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief for willful violations of state purchasing laws, rules and regulations, for acts of civil conspiracy committed by Reid-Smith and John Canning & Company and for willful violations of the state Open Governmental Proceedings Act. They say Reid-Smith made a “unilateral decision, without the approval of the CBC” sometime before April 2019 to implement a portion of a Capitol rotunda mural project that had been canceled in June 2011.
The plaintiffs in each case are being represented by Thomas Peyton and Harvey Peyton of The Peyton Law Firm in Nitro. Canning is being represented by Alex Macia and Chelsea E. Thompson of Spilman Thomas Battle in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case numbers 24-C-929 (Morris) and 24-C-932 (Acosta)