12 year old art critic

DETROIT (AP) - A 12-year-old boy stuck a wad of gum to an abstract painting, leaving a small stain on the $1.5 million (1.25 million) work by American painter Helen Frankenthaler.

The boy was visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts with a school group Friday when he took a piece of Wrigley's Extra Polar Ice gum from his mouth and mashed it on "The Bay," a painting from 1963, officials said.

The gum did not adhere to the fiber of the canvas, but left a small blot of chemical residue on the painting's lower left corner, said Becky Hart, assistant curator.

The museum is researching solvents that might clean the chemicals and will keep "The Bay" on display in the meantime, Hart said. "Our expectation is that the painting is going to be fine," she said.

Holly Academy director Julie Kildee said the boy had been suspended from the school and his parents have also disciplined him.

"Even though we give very strict guidelines on proper behavior and we hold students to high standards, he is only 12 and I don't think he understood the ramifications of what he did before it happened, but he certainly understands the severity of it now," Kildee said.

The Catholic Crusade is wondering if they can recruit the boy to “decorate” some anti-Catholic art.