Adrienne Barkley wrote: >>Our latest exhibit has two paintings of nude figures and someone has expressed > > deep concernabout this. Rather than an enclosed gallery our exhibit spaces > > >are glass enclosed cases built into the hallways so the individual feels he > > is subjected to things he does not want to see and does not have the > > choice of avoiding. You are wise,Adrienne, to anticipate and plan. To me this is a planning issue. A small "maze" could be constructed from partitions/panels whereby the nudes would be inset and not hanging out in full public view. At the entry there could be a panel about the nude being integral to academic artist training. There could be a photo of a 19th century classroom (I'm thinking of the Pennsylvania Academy) with men and women students drawing/painting from the nude model. If you want more explanation, you could tell how art has always shocked the public before becoming mainstream. Everyone knows and loves the Impressionists, but they turned the art world on its ear in their early days. If I were the gallery director, I would relish a little controversy--how better to educate the "little" ones. If controversy did develop, I'd be ready with a press release that Olympia strikes again , this time in Little town, USA. Where Manet had shocked his fellow Parisians with his painting of a nude model boldly confronting her viewer in the eye, how does the work of your schools' art educators compare? Are they like Bacon, Lucien Freud, Chuck Close, Alice Neel or even the 19th century Paula Modersshohn Becker who painted her nude pregnant body? Did they do a rendition of Micheangelo's Adam, but make him Latino, Asian or female? Or did they update the nude in the artistic continuum in some other way? Aren't these legitimate, artistic considerations rather than just the fact that we have some nudes here? However, the situation Ellen Cutler recounted is a different story. Here someone took issue with a drawing that depicted a Ku Klux Klansman with an African American in an exhibit titled "Fear." Ellen relates that there was an outcry, even by people who had not taken the time to see the exhibit. Although there had been anticipation by the gallery director who brought it before the multicultural committee before the exhibit was mounted, nothing was done because the committee itself did not anticipate any problem with the subject matter. However, people thought this exhibit was an "invitation" to the klan to the campus, and that the African American students were not protected. The media jumped into the foray. Ultimately, the artist withdrew the exhibit out of fear for the safety for his work and his family. Ellen is absolutely right. And Audra offered very good advice. This was a golden opportunity for a teaching insitution to teach. There should have been media interviews with the artist and other artists, public community dialogues, and perhaps a local series on "Degenerate Art" which ran in New York City a few years ago and is accompanied by marvelous curriculum materieals and films. This could have been a great forum for civil discourse for these are the type of issues that strenghten democracy, by giving people a forum to come together and debate these issues, particularly ones that arise out of fear. Often one cannot aniticipate the things that will bubble to the surface, but you can be prepared to bring in someone that can sieze the opportunity to turn it into a conciousness-raising event. Have a repetoire of consultants who not only have experience, but shine in these type of situations. Who know how to turn something controversial and damaging into something that is beneficial for the institution and its community in the long run. I have no doubt that Ellen would be such a person and you could always call on me as well. There are people who specialize in just this type of work. Thank you for bringing this to the list and I hope to see more posts from other folks on this subject. Terri McNichol Ren Associates- Assisting Museum Communities 707 Alexander Road, Bldg. 2 Suite 208 Princeton NJ 08540 609-586-8441 Ren, a Chinese cardinal virtue, stands for benevolence and universal empathy, encompassing five values of courtesy, magnanimity, good faith, diligence and kindness-simply translated, it means humanity ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).