I am a member of this list as a part-time curator of corporate art
collections, as an art collector (both personal and corporate) and as an
employer.  The following email from A.B. Rice uses words that have oft come
to mind when viewing more than a few comments from members of this
listserve, and recently in viewing same as addressed to Gayle a/k/a Indigo
Nights :

"appalled"   "boorish"   "selfish"  "mean-spirited"  "overly controlling"
"callous"  "insensitive"

Perhaps I have been around and about too many decades, but my view is that
when someone such as Gayle appears on the scene, and is willing to
exuberantly contribute to the welfare of our society (either with colleagues
in the employ of museums, with those seeking such employ, and/or with
members of society writ large), we should be deeply grateful both to her and
to the deity who created such a wonderful and giving person.  And those who
have driven away someone willing to so contribute should be embarrassed and
be labeled as fools, since those of us who remain without the knowledge and
enthusiasm of the rare and wonderful Indigo Nights are poorer thereby.
/ken [log in to unmask]


----- Original Message -----
From: "Annemarie Brennan Rice" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 4:33 PM
Subject: Re: Job seekers, frequency of postings and the meaning of life!


> I am not one usually prone to jumping into the fray, but today I feel
> impelled to speak my piece.  I am quite appalled at the list's recent
> display of boorish behavior toward fellow lister Indigo Nights. As a
lawyer
> I encounter selfish, mean-spirited and overly controlling people every
day;
> sometimes all day.  But that's to be expected.  I am a lawyer afterall.
> But I am also a docent in a wonderful museum here in Washington, DC, and I
> find that my time in the museum and interact with its staff is a wonderful
> antidote to the harsh and graspy ways of my profession.  I am also a
voyeur
> of this list because I like knowing what is important to you all.  And
yes,
> I also look for (and often find) ideas and information that I use in my
> never ending search to find ways to incorporate museum work into my
> professional life.  I have even (evidentally due to a clear lack of judeo-
> christian values) imposed on the list on one or two occasions for feedback
> about career ideas.  I have always received gracious and supportive
> feedback from other listers, but no one has impressed me more with their
> unflagging selfless-ness and generosity that Gayle (aka Indigo Nights).  I
> am always amazed that anyone would spend that much time and effort to
> freely share what she knows and has with others - - and for no reason that
> I can see other than she believes in unfettered sharing and open-handed
> giving.  I think the list has been callous and insensitive toward Gayle.
I
> for one am deeply sorry for any hurt or embarrassment this has caused her.
> And it's all the more shocking to me that a group of people usually so
> atuned to issues of censorship and expressive freedoms would behave so
> callously toward one of its own.  And for what?   Because her desire to
> help others, and spread the word to people who may not have the
> wherewithall to find information on the web is too time consuming to
people
> already in-the-know.  What if someone complained that the text portion of
> an exhibit in your museum was too wordy or contained too much information
> already known by most well-educated musuem goers?  Would you accommodate a
> request for less text from some complaining of such things?  What if your
> musuem didn't charge admission?  Wouldn't you think, "hmmm, we provide a
> free and glorious service to you ingrates and if you don't like the wall
> text then don't read it because some people like to know more, not less,
> and besides I've worked damn hard to provide it to you for free!"  And I'd
> really like to know why shooting off some half-baked query about the
> identity of Indigo Nights and number of her posting is not spam while her
> postings by virtue of their consistency and volume (not content!) are?
>
> This list without the full and robust contribution of Indigio Nights is
not
> something I care to be part of. (Not that anyone really cares, after all
> less is more evidently).  I suspect I am not the only one who feels this
> way.
>
> - A. B. Rice
>
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