It sounds as though you are between a rock and a hard place here.  The
faculty will scream censorship if you do anything about it.  As an artist,
I'll go ahead and say that sometimes we seem to think our job is to "reach"
people and if they get really upset we are doing a good job!
A "few short years back" I was part of a consortium of artists who exhibited
in a variety of places.  One woman did an explicit or quasi-explicit female
nude for an exhibit in a county office building.  A couple of women workers
objected, the drawing was moved to a new location, the artist was offended.
Once I think about it, I shouldn't be surprised that this is still happening
on college campuses.  In the "less recent past" one of our assignments in a
graduate class I took (weaving - in home ec. department) required us to
design a piece to go with another furnishing or art work.  I pulled out a
Mondrian(sp) because the colors matched the yarn I wanted to work with.  The
teacher was most upset when I showed her the art work which was a draped
nude.
Your "solution" may lie in how you are administered.  Are you a part of the
art department?  Do you fall under the President's office or some other
branch?  I'd think you'd have a better chance of simply apologizing to the
offended party and going on with business if you are under the art
department.  One thing I would consider is taking this to the art faculty.
What do they want to do about it?  It is evidently their show and yet the
students are their constituents.  The faculty senate may be another step,
too.
I'd go to these folks to shield the museum, especially if it is not under
the art department.
Knowing this controversy from both sides, any censorship will be sticky,
failure to acknowledge the complainants concerns will be sticky,
acknowledging them must be done carefully.  We've done controversial things
in our small town in Wyoming.  They work for us when they're approached
carefully and well-publicized.  The people who would be offended don't come.
Perhaps you could do advanced publicity on the faculty/staff show explaining
possible points of contention.  Maybe even offer a few forums from the
faculty on the subject.  What I'm suggesting is that to the best of your
ability (situation given) you turn this "problem" to your advantage.  Bring
out the artists, philosophers, legal experts to talk about freedom of
expression, censorship and the arts, the campus environment, etc.
Like any project for someone else that I don't have to do any work for, I
could get excited about this.
Good luck.  I'm interested in seeing the ideas that come out for you.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adrienne Barkley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 11:21 AM
Subject: Controversial Exhibit


> Please give me suggestions on how you or others that you know of handle
> controversial exhibit material.  Our museum is on the campus of a
> community college in a somewhat conservative region.  Our latest exhibit
> has two paintings of nude figures and someone has expressed deep concern
> about 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.  The exhibit is artwork created by faculty and staff
> from our college.
>
> Do you have policies or guidelines on what content you won't accept into
> a non-juried exhibit?  We want to be responsible to the public but also
> do not want to threaten freedom of expression.
>
> Any general guidelines or suggestions are appreciated.  Thank you in
> advance.
>
> Adrienne F. Barkley
> Curator
> John A. Logan College Museum
>
> =========================================================
> 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).

=========================================================
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).