Brogan won’t amend art exhibit
Confederate-flag art has drawn harsh critics
By Mark Hinson
DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITERDuring a lively and sometimes emotional board meeting Monday, the Mary Brogan
Museum of Art & Science declined to add a "historical timeline about
the Confederate flag" to be shown along with controversial Confederate-flag
art by conceptual artist John Sims.Sims’ artworks – which include a 13-foot-tall wooden gallows titled "The
Proper Way to Hang A Confederate Flag" – went on view in the museum on
Feb. 26 as part of the "AfroProvocations" exhibit. Two weeks later,
Sons of Confederate Veterans commander Col. Robert Hurst sent a letter condemning
the work and demanding its removal.Brogan executive director Chucha Barber met with Hurst and was considering "extending
a small olive branch" by adding a counter-exhibit documenting the six incarnations
of the Confederate flag.The board shot down the idea – at least for now.
"I don’t know if we’re obligated to do anything for Mr. Hurst," Brogan
board member Ron Sachs said. "Frankly, I think we’ve done enough. . . .
I think we’re becoming a tool for this guy and his organization.""Leave (the exhibit) as it is," board member Bill Montford said.
"Anything we do now it will look like, ‘They gave, they folded.’ You take
one step back, you’re going to get your tail whipped.""I can’t compromise on this issue – there’s no appeasement here,"
board member and Tallahassee Democrat executive editor Bob Gabordi said.Barber told the board that since the controversy over "AfroProvocations"
erupted, she has felt targeted and has received "a barrage of 1,000 e-mails
and hundreds of phone calls." Some of them have been threatening to the
point that Tallahassee police were consulted."Whatever you decide tonight, they will escalate their antagonism,"
Barber said.When "The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag" and other flag artworks
by Sims were shown at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania in September 2004,
the exhibit was greeted with protests and death threats. The FBI stepped in
and the college president was assigned a temporary bodyguard.Barber said she was unaware of the Gettysburg firestorm when Sims’ work was
selected for inclusion in "AfroProvocations.""That’s a small fact I would’ve like to have had," Barber said.
"There’s some issue of negotiations happening that I’m not comfortable
with," Sims said from his home in Sarasota. "She (Barber) has brought
him (Hurst) into the curatorial process and it’s outrageous. It’s her way of
appeasing him."At Monday’s meeting, the board’s executive committee voted "to look at
the issue further" and explore the possibility of including links or historical
information on the museum’s Web site concerning the history of the flag."AfroProvocations" runs through June 3 and also features works by
Mary Proctor, O.L. Samuels, Steven Bernard Jones, Sangoyemi Ogunsanya and Pat
Ward Williams, who attended Monday’s meeting."Did you notice they weren’t talking about the art in there tonight?"
Ward Williams said. "This whole thing has gotten away from being about
the art and we just need to bring it back to the art.""AfroProvocations" runs through June 3 at the Mary Brogan Museum
of Art & Science on Kleman Plaza. It also features works by Mary Proctor,
O.L. Samuels, Steven Bernard Jones, Sangoyemi Ogunsanya and Pat Ward Williams.
Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is $6 for adults, $3.50 for children, students, senior citizens and
military personnel with valid IDs. The museum has also created a blog site where
patrons can post comments about the "AfroProvocations" exhibit at
www.thebrogan.org. Call 513-0700 for more informationCopyright ©2007 Tallahassee Democrat
