Spring Break
Photo shot down from display
Melissa Marshall
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: Arts
Students leaving the McCullough Social Space after a late-night dance party or prospectives taking a tour of the Student Center may be shocked to find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun. Aaron Gensler's '08 exhibit featuring eight photographs of students posing with a toy gun is the current display in The Center Gallery for Student Art - and the center of a controversy over the content of public art on campus.
In the wake of complaints from members of the custodial staff and counseling services, a photograph depicting student Michael Nevadomski '09 with a gun placed provocatively in his mouth was removed and replaced with a less visually graphic piece.
"I knew that they were going to illicit some conversation. I will say that I underestimated how public that gallery is," said Graduate Intern at the Museum of Art Stuart Hurt '07.5, who is also in charge of curating The Center Gallery - a space that opened in May 2007 to provide student artists a place to showcase their work.
According to Hurt, the gallery's "greatest strength is also its greatest weakness, and that's its public nature."
With its informal air and the openness of the space, The Center Gallery and its central location in the Social Space promotes visibility. The subject matter of Gensler's photographs, however, caught visitors off guard - visitors to the college who were not necessarily expecting to experience art.
"The Center Gallery is a place where people have to do their jobs, where parents walk through with young children, where the local community passes through on a regular basis," wrote Chaplain of the College Laurie Jordan, who originally fielded concerns about the exhibit from members of the custodial staff and counselors at the Health Center, in an e-mail. "It is wonderful to fill it with art," she continued, "but I believe there is room for discussion about finding the right sort of art for public thoroughfares."
In the wake of complaints from members of the custodial staff and counseling services, a photograph depicting student Michael Nevadomski '09 with a gun placed provocatively in his mouth was removed and replaced with a less visually graphic piece.
"I knew that they were going to illicit some conversation. I will say that I underestimated how public that gallery is," said Graduate Intern at the Museum of Art Stuart Hurt '07.5, who is also in charge of curating The Center Gallery - a space that opened in May 2007 to provide student artists a place to showcase their work.
According to Hurt, the gallery's "greatest strength is also its greatest weakness, and that's its public nature."
With its informal air and the openness of the space, The Center Gallery and its central location in the Social Space promotes visibility. The subject matter of Gensler's photographs, however, caught visitors off guard - visitors to the college who were not necessarily expecting to experience art.
"The Center Gallery is a place where people have to do their jobs, where parents walk through with young children, where the local community passes through on a regular basis," wrote Chaplain of the College Laurie Jordan, who originally fielded concerns about the exhibit from members of the custodial staff and counselors at the Health Center, in an e-mail. "It is wonderful to fill it with art," she continued, "but I believe there is room for discussion about finding the right sort of art for public thoroughfares."
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