…but is unfortunately alive and well.

Last month Kathy Nida’s art quilt “I Was Not Wearing a Life Jacket”, part of a Studio Art Quilt Associates’ (SAQA) traveling exhibition entitled People and Portraits, was pulled from the American  Quilter’s Society display during Quilt Week in Grand Rapids, MI by AQS management. Furthermore, AQS decided that the piece would be removed altogether from traveling further with the exhibit, despite having already shown in four other AQS venues without complaint. You can view the piece here.

The controversy surrounds a non-existent penis that was imagined by one, or several, very upset viewer(s) — exactly how many has not been definitively ascertained. The complaints apparently were forceful enough that the show’s management summarily removed Nida’s work from the exhibit. The overwhelming irony is that the piece depicts only women, so said anatomical feature simply does not exist within this artwork. It adds insult to injury that Nida’s second piece in the show was also removed, not because it was found offensive in any way, but because each exhibiting artist in the show contributed two pieces, and it was deemed inappropriate to display only one piece by Nida.

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of CraftSanity has written a concise recap of the controversial situation and includes a podcast interview with Nida, which can be found here. SAQA’s board of directors offered their synopsis and response. The Craft Industry Alliance discusses the aftermath, outlining how AQS further bungled the situation by refusing to address the outcry until 10 days after the piece had been pulled from the show, and even then with a woefully insufficient statement from Bonnie Browning, the Executive Show Director for AQS.

I find it extremely distressing, though sadly not surprising, that such a blatant misperception would be allowed to deprive other viewers the opportunity to assess for themselves the merits (or lack thereof) found within such thought-provoking imagery. And while it’s disgraceful that such antiquated viewpoints are allowed to take precedence over reason, thank goodness we can openly express our scorn for such provincialism and outright censorship.

Finally, if you have questions about your rights under the First Amendment, Artist Rights is a resource that was created to provide answers.

On a Much Lighter Note…                                                                                                                           

Quinn     ©2016 Elizabeth Fram

After a lonely year, my studio is a happier place with the arrival of a new model and goofy partner in crime. Gentle snores and a thumping tail once again provide the comforting background music I have been sorely missing.