———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 10:48:29 -0600
From: [email protected]
To: Joy Garnett <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: the Jacir situation
In response to your recent email, I want to share with you the following
statement just released by Dr. Elizabeth King, WSU Vice-President for
Advancement:
"Wichita State University is aware of the discussion generated by the
scheduled exhibition of work by artist Emily Jacir at the Ulrich Museum of
Art. The University is committed to going forward with the exhibition
without conditions or limitations that could be considered to compromise
the integrity of Ms. Jacir's work as an artist. The University
appreciates the widespread interest in the artist and the exhibition."
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need further information.
David Butler
Director
Ulrich Museum of Art/Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection
Wichita State University
1845 Fairmount
Wichita, KS 67260
(316) 978-3017 (316) 978-3898 fax
www.ulrich.wichita.edu
Joy Garnett <[email protected]>
12/15/2004 09:11 AM
To
[email protected]
cc
[email protected]
Subject
the Jacir situation
Dear Mr. Butler,
I edit an art weblog that is helping to distribute a call for assistance
on behalf of the artist Emily Jacir. I am sure that by now your Inbox is
full and your Voicemail floweth over. Miss Jacir, as I am sure you are
aware, has wide support among her peers and colleagues in the art world
and professional arts community; the support on her behalf continues to
grow. Your sensitivity and forthrightness in the matter will be
appreciated by one and all. I am confident that you will not allow a
politically partisan group to mar this show with their inappropriate
paraphernalia. This artist should enjoy the same respect that your
institution would accord any artist, regardless of their background or
orientation.
Respectfully yours,
Joy Garnett
NEWSgrist - where spin is art
http://newsgrist.typepad.com
PS: This letter, like the blog post mentioned, is being distributed widely
through an online forum and RSS feeds.
Re: the Jacir situation (fwd)
-
Type: discussion
Comments
>"Wichita State University is aware of the discussion generated by the
>scheduled exhibition of work by artist Emily Jacir at the Ulrich Museum of
>Art. The University is committed to going forward with the exhibition
>without conditions or limitations that could be considered to compromise
>the integrity of Ms. Jacir's work as an artist. The University
>appreciates the widespread interest in the artist and the exhibition."
well, good for you if you helped iron this out. and i mean it.
from the story, it looks like some investor got huffy, but for no
good reason and threatened a huge repercussion. and nobody realized
the solution proposed would just rile up others.
you personally, joy, are to thank for helping to clear it up. the
admins didn't, until you got involved. sounds like the protesters
didn't even have a clear idea about what they were protesting
against. possibly, the gallery thought jacir's work meant something
in opposition to the JFoK, but we don't even know what the pamphlets,
etc were saying.
the answer from kansas is formality/pleasant. legitimately, the
author didn't have time to go into details with a semi-random
stranger. but this does read like a letter from the bank, says
nothing in particular, just sentiments. not to say jacir will or
won't be satisfied with the outcome. but the university thought
they were doing exactly the same thing before the argument, not
compromising the work. we'll see.
someone there may find a better compromise, the investor changed
their mind, etc. if there's still a real threat of 1.5 million
bucks, you can bet an argument on some web group is not going to
convince them. they thought their appeasement would be no big deal
(and still logically isn't) but maybe the whole issue got dropped.
ps. nothing against kansas. i had said it's not despondent about
art/politics but people are saying "the sticks".
can it be that our "discussion" and the many angry emails/voice mails etc.=
really pushed them to change their attitude? I'm sure it helped, but the
museum director and whoever else was advocating from the inside must have=
pulled a rabbit out of a hat to get these people to back down so quick. I=
think we supplied ammo, and the additional threat of more ammo to come if=
the issue wasn't addressed properly. It's great! – so it really is
possible to exert pressure at the speed of light via networks and get
results. yay !
On Fri, 17 Dec 2004, Plasma Studii - [iso-8859-1] uospn