On Mon, 18 Dec 1995, Costello & Orselli wrote:

> Opinions and suggestions please...
>
>... As one part of the project we are introducing cultural links relating
> to the mythological history of the names of planets and their satellites.
> We want to include images such as those found in classical paintings.
> The problem is that our school advisors say if there is "frontal nudity"
> in our Web pages,
> even in context, they will not use any part of our Web site.
>
> Does anyone have any opinions, suggestions, or personal experiences to share?
>
> Paul Orselli
> Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum

        Since I have just completed a fellowship project which
involved creating a
tour on the theme of myth at
the Smithsonian, which has plenty of nudes on display, and plenty of
schoolchildren coming through, my
first reaction is that your school advisors are overreacting.
But then, I don't know your community.  In an era where sexual imagery
surrounds us in advertising, movies, TV, MTV, etc., it's hard to believe
that anyone is getting worked up about ancient Greek and Roman statues,
or Renaissance versions of the same (I assume that's the imagery you're
referring to).  If it were me, I would set up a meeting to bring some
images that you're interested in using for them to see.  That way, you
force them to clarify, for you, AND for themselves, what the concerns
are and what the guidelines are.  At that meeting, if you haven't done so
already, talk to them to pin down
exactly who they are trying to appease, and why.  In situations like
this, one often finds that the people making the decisions haven't
thought it all through,and they're reacting to a situation they imagine
rather than to past experience.  They may be reacting to a
specific
group or to an incident which happened in the past, but which seems like a
different issue to you.  In this case,
can discuss with them how this project is different and they might be
reassured. I would also be prepared with
documentation which shows that these things are widely accepted--e.g.
statues that are located at popular tourist sites, public squares and
fountains, or artwork that is on display in your local museums without
incident.  Without going into details, I had an analogous situation
where the sensitivities had to do with something other than nudity, and I
had pretty good results.

If this fails, you should be able to locate modestly draped versions of at
least some of these
mythological characters.  While it's annoying to capitulate in cases like
this, it doesn't seem worth seeing your entire project go down in flames.

By the way, I have a favorite anecdote on the subject of underestimating
the public's ability to deal with nudity.  Our gallery is located in a
building with one of the major performing arts venues in the Baltimore
area, so we receive over 80,000 visitors a year, including
schoolchildren.  We've had nudes there on several occasions,
with no complaints.  Once we exhibited the work of a photographer who
photographed nude women in water.  The images are lyrical, and the water
distorts the body shapes in unusual ways, but the body parts are all
clearly recognizable.  My department chair and I prepared ourselves to
respond if there were any complaints.  Instead, one day I ran into the
Student Activities Director, who enthused, "Oh, I wanted to tell you,
last weekend was Parents' Weekend, and we had SO many positive comments
about the show in the gallery!  People were coming up to me all weekend
to tell me how much they enjoyed it."  There you go.

Hope this helps.

--Helen Glazer, Exhibitions Director
Rosenberg Gallery, Goucher College, Baltimore, MD
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