NEWS FEATURES
Gallery debates placement of ‘offensive’ art
Warning signs foretell
exhibit’s explicit content
By Tracy Peel
■ The Argonaut
U. of Idaho
After an anonymous complaint about artwork depicting
nudity, U. of Idaho administrators decided to put up warning
signs around an exhibit to explain its content so passcrsby
would not be disturbed.
The administrators originally planned to move the exhibit,
which consisted of drawings by student Lisa Eisenrich, to a
less conspicuous area of the gallery
Some interpreted the move as censorship
Coordinator of the Student Union Building Gallery John
Goettsche said, “No matter what you put up, somebody is going
to be offended If you listen to that complaint, are you going
to listen to them all? Are you going to tear down every show
people don’t like7'
The gallery manager. Dean Vettrus. defended the request to
move the artwork, saying, “This is the most public area of the
building A lot of little kids come by that area in the morning
before they go to school."
Vettrus said he objected only to the placement of the exhibit,
not the content or quality of the art
Eisenrich, or‘Izey" as she signs her paintings, said she heard
mostly positive comments about the exhibit. Comments were
also listed in a book at the gallery's information desk, and pos
itive comments outnumbered the negative ones.
Goettsche tells those who may question his choice of display
art to “go through an art history’ book and look at the impres
sionists. They all painted naked women."
But because no consensus can be easily formed as to the
appropriateness of a piece of art, the university has decided
to evaluate its own selection process.
Hal Godwin, vice president of student affairs, said Goettsche
has done a good job of selecting art for the SUB Gallery, but
has been a “committee of one.”
Godwin suggested a larger committee be responsible for
selecting artwork in the future.
BRIAN JOHNSON. THE ARGONAUT U Of IDAHO
Eisenrich's piece was at the center ot debate
Two UF students embrace
during a silent prayer vigil
GONE
BUT NOT
FORGOTTEN
I
111
(Above) I
Alachua County B
sheriffs are
pallbearers lor
Christa L. Hoyt i
a records clerk I
lor the sheriff's F
department J
(RightI Sandra
Carlis joins
100 protesters
al a National
Organization lor
Women march \
In Gainesville. Fla a
college town that was
preparing to start its
first week ot classes
students banded
together after a series
ol live shocking
murders The deaths
haunted students all
across the nation, not
just those at the U of
Florida and Santa Fe
Community College,
where the victims were
found Greg Rivara a
student journalist at
Western Illinois U
wrote a column urging
his fellow students to
look to the southern
tragedy as a lesson in
mortality Everyone in
their early adult years
got a little reality
break. Young people
die. Simple tact.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHERRY JONES.
THE INDEPENDENT FLORIDA ALLIGATOR. U OF FLORIDA
NEA
Continued from page 1
Some students in California agreed.
Enn Braddock, the U. of California
Student Association representative for
the U. of California, Davis, said she
thinks “the essence of these amend
ments is repressiveness, which puts lim
its on human expression. When a gov
ernment attempts to define those limits,
it is very, very dangerous.’
However, Braddock admitted that
artists should have the right to accept
grants. “There is a lot of truth behind the
term ‘starving artist,’" she said.
Last year alone, the nine UC campus
es received more than $1 million from
Chairman John Frohnmayer continual
ly reiterated his position on art versus
obscenity.
“I and the National Endowment for
the Arts oppose obscenity unequivocal
ly. It is the antithesis of art. It is without
soul. It conveys no message. It degrades
humanity, and it sickens me,” he said
NfiA spokeswoman Virginia Falck
said the ASU committee could have
made a more effective statement by
directly contacting members of
Congress.
While Carlson and his committee
decided to embark on that route, othei
universities took a more overt stance by
protests and marches.
At Southern Methodist U. in Tbxas,
marchers in front of Dallas City Hall car
the NLA, and as
much as $150,000
of that amount
was used for vari
ous arts pro
grams, said UCD
Vice Chancellor
Richard Methany.
Turning away
the money isn't
easy, said Ron
Carlson, director
“Art is supposed to stir us and
provoke us and keep us awake....
When there no longer are chal
lenges to our minds and hearts,
then we become a society of sleep
walkers.”
— SMU graduate Tim Seibles,
NEA fellowship recipient
ned colorful signs,
some decorated with
luminous Jackson
Pollack-style paint
splatters and styl
ized images of
human heads with
tape over the eyes
and mouth.
Dallas poet and
SMU graduate Tim
Seibles, who recently
o! Arizona state u.s creative writing
program, which rejected a $9,965 NEA
grant in protest of the clause this fall.
"We turned down funding three times
as much as our operating budget,"
Carlson said.
The U. of Iowa found itself trying to
meet similar costs by accepting private
donations after rejecting a $12,000 NEA
grant to fund production of the Iowa
Short Fiction Awards.
But many artists have accepted the
grants, despite the possible ethical ram
ifications that could accompany them.
“Of course it gave me pause," said
Indiana U. English professor and writer
Tbny Ardizzone. “But to turn down that
grant would have been like shooting
myself in the foot."
In addition to the financial strain put
on universities, those involved have said
the clause infringed on their ‘academic,
social and artistic freedoms."
Alberto Rios, ASU English professor,
did not criticize the NEA, but con
demned the wording of the mandatory
oath, saying it resembled "a communist
witch hunt."
Despite such accusations, NEA
received an NEA fellowship, said, Art
is supposed to stir us and provoke us and
keep us awake, and to challenge our
staid and often antiquated ideas of
what’s OK. When there no longer are
challenges to our minds and hearts, then
we become a society of sleepwalkers ’
Artist Elizabeth Stirratt, who accept
ed a 1990 NEA grant, said the clause
may have had the effect of pushing
artists in the direction of becoming more
experimental.
“This whole thing has made people
focus more on obscene works,” she said.
“It makes you wonder what it would take
to cross that line. It’s an intriguing
thought.”
Writers contributing to this
report: Rebecca Deaton and Marisa
Ferrino, The Daily Cougar, U. of
Houston; M.L. Garland, The Argonaut,
U. of Idaho; John Kenyon, The Daily
Iowan, U. of Iowa; Sonja Lewis, State
Press, Arizona State U.; June Lyle,
Indiana Daily Student, Indiana U.;
Chris Piper, The California Aggie, U.
of California, Davis; and Matt Seitz,
The Daily Campus, Southern
Methodist U.