Ann Harlow wrote:

> Assuming we also organize a "public" forum, would you suggest:
> 1) it be announced to the outside public or just our faculty, students &
> staff?
> 2) we have a designated panel or just a moderator calling on anyone who
> wants to speak?

My gut reaction is that you start with your campus community, and leave
outsiders out of it for the time being.  There were a couple of
incidents on our campus recently, not related to the gallery, but
related to diversity issues, which upset some of the students.  A campus
diversity forum was held, and a need was felt for a follow-up, which was
also held.  This has seemed to calm things down.  I think the concerned
students feel heard and taken seriously.  The situation you're in is
different in many ways, but one thing I noticed is that once the media
got wind of it, their presentation was disappointingly simplistic (they
left the impression that the administration had done nothing to address
concerns) and some  politicians seized the opportunity for
grandstanding.  And then, surprise!, the media never followed up on the
story.  You don't need that.  Your public relations staff might also
have good advice for you in this situation.

Since you say that...

> The president
> and the academic vice president are behind us all the way,

and...

> There has been considerable discussion here over the past few
> years of what it means to be a Catholic college, to celebrate the
> Catholic tradition, etc.  This tension may be one source of the strong
> reactions.

maybe the administration would consider tying a campus forum on the
exhibit into a series of forums on the larger issue of the college's
identity.

> I'm thinking about asking a few faculty members with different reactions
> to the controversial works to write short pieces about what they see in
> them, which could then be made readily available in the gallery.  I hope
> this would help further mutual understanding.  It is along the lines of
> what Mia Llarena described being done with the audience at a play--but
> that's a more captive audience than the fluid one in an art gallery.

That's an interesting idea, too.

> I only got one comment on the role of the director versus the curator in
> screening art works.  Not only do I have plenty of other things to occupy
> my time, it just doesn't seem quite right to interfere.  What do others
> think?

Well, my role is a little different at my college--I'm the
director/curator and I select the artworks, but I report to the chair of
the art department, and when something potentially controversial is on
the horizon I talk it over with the chair before committing to it.  If
we decide to go ahead with it, I inform the academic dean and public
relations people on the theory that if someone complains, they'll be
prepared to deal with it.  But I've been fortunate--no problems so far.

Good luck with this,
Helen Glazer, Exhibitions Director
Goucher College
Baltimore, MD USA
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