LEWISBURG — High school senior Joseph Moralez said Wednesday that when he was shuffled off into an obscure corner to work on his Obama-Hitler drawing, his freedom of expression was curtailed.

“The minute this piece of art was censored, and taken down, was the minute my right to express myself freely was infringed,” Moralez wrote in a statement to The Daily Item.

“To those who stand in opposition to my actions, I ask you one thing: If my opinions and my art have offended you, would it be fair to say your opinions are offensive to me?”

A couple of weeks ago, Moralez was sketching in a Lewisburg Area High hallway.

“The assistant principal walks by,” Moralez said later Wednesday by phone. “Then he goes to the art teacher. When he came out I was told to put it (the work) in an area where some seniors work on art. ...”

Moralez said the area was secluded.

Moralez was drawing a half-face likeness of President Barack Obama juxtaposed opposite a half-face likeness of Adolf Hitler. He would not say if the dual portrait was intended to make a statement, but that he has frequented anti-Obama Web sites. His Facebook page, which showed he has gone to nobama.com and sarahpalinrockon.com, was removed Wednesday.

It is unknown whether the assistant principal acted independently or in reaction to complaints about the art from students’ parents.

One parent, Bud Hiller, said Moralez’s picture is inappropriate and he isn’t satisfied with the school administration’s handling of the matter. Superintendent Mark DiRocco denied Moralez has been censored and said the administration is acting in accordance with the 1969 Supreme Court ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines, which decided, in a case involving students wearing anti-Vietnam War armbands, that schools may not restrict students’ speech simply to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness of unpopular viewpoints.

“His right to freedom of expression is being granted,” DiRocco said Wednesday.

Moralez, however, was clearly disappointed that his work was not going to be on display in the school. That, he said, was his intention.

DiRocco said not all student art work is hung.

“We have a three-year backlog,” he said. “It’s the school’s decision. The students don’t have the right to decide.”

Moralez wrote: “While I understand my art could be considered offensive, I believe it is also true that all art could be considered offensive. The Mona Lisa could be considered offensive to anyone of the Islamic faith. Where do we draw the line on censorship? ... Where is it fair to say your opinions are right and mine are wrong?

“...We can’t forget that opinions, even the most radical opinions, are still just opinions.