State House Candidate Incites Controversy By Posting Campaign Sign On Warhol Grave Site
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BETHEL PARK (KDKA) -- When Sharon Guidi of Peters Township dropped by Andy Warhol's gravesite in Bethel Park, it was spur of the moment.
"I was canvassing in the neighborhood with a volunteer, and he said, 'Have you ever been to Andy Warhol's grave?' And I said say no. So he said, 'Let me show you,'" Guidi told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Tuesday.
What Guidi, a Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives in the South Hills (Bethel Park, Peters, and Upper St. Clair), didn't know was that her visit was caught on Earthcam by a 24/7 camera at the Warhol grave.
The pictures show her campaign volunteer carrying and posting her campaign lawn sign right next to Warhol's grave before carrying it away.
Guidi says Warhol would have loved it.
Guidi: "He was breaking a lot of molds in the art world, and I'm breaking a lot of molds in the political world. I'm a teacher, and I think it was a fun thing to do."
Delano: "To put up your lawn sign?"
Guidi: "Right. It was just a moment, and I think he would have had a kick out of it."
Guidi's Republican opponent, Natalie Mihalek, had a different take, saying, "Andy Warhol's grave site is not a prop to be used for a political stunt."
"It is one thing for a politician to engage in door-knocking. It is entirely another to engage in a casket-knocking," said Mihalek.
There are all kinds of Warhol memorabilia at the Warhol grave site like the Campbell's soup can or a banana, but is it appropriate to have a campaign sign right at the grave site? Is it disrespectful, or part of the humor that was Andy Warhol?
Guidi says it was all fun.
They took no photos there and left with the sign.
"With Andy Warhol, he did have a great sense of humor, and we did say a little silent prayer for Andy," she said.
But if anyone is offended, Guidi is sorry.
"If I've hurt anyone's feelings, I'm sorry. It was not intended to ever, ever disrespect or hurt anyone's feelings," she said.