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| Jeffrey Augustine Songo, GayGayGay Robe, 2011. Cotton and paper on dress form, 20" x 30" x 80." |
Today on the ArtPrize blog, I discuss queer art, gay rights, churches, and the work of San Francisco-based artist Jeffrey Augustine Songco. Here's an excerpt from my post:
Gay rights activists and supporters rejoiced in June when lawmakers voted to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, becoming the sixth and largest state to do so. Here in Michigan, where voters banned same-sex marriage and civil unions in 2004, the movement for gay rights suffered another defeat that same month: Holland City Council* voted against a proposal that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity protection to their anti-discrimination policies. I’m told that gay rights has been a hot-button issue in and around Grand Rapids ever since. What does this have to do with ArtPrize, you ask? Everything. Because art is uniquely capable of bringing together communities through conversation.
*FULL DISCLOSURE: Brian Burch, ArtPrize’s public relations director and editor of the ArtPrize Blog, currently sits on the Holland City Council.
Of the many art education initiatives taking place this year, the queer-oriented panel discussion organized by Reverend Anne Weirich of Westminster Presbyterian Church, struck me as being not only timely, but also brazen. The starting point for the discussion was Jeffery Augustine Songco’s ArtPrize entry GayGayGay Robe, located in Westminster’s lobby.* Songco was joined by Theresa McClelland and Reverend Jim Lucas of Gays in Faith Together (GIFT); Reverend Matthew Cockrum of Fountain Street Church; Pastoral Counselor, Reverend Lorie Schier; Westminster member and practicing attorney Maribeth Jelks, and Westminster’s Christian educator Sherrill Vore, who moderated the discussion.Continue reading>>
To Nicole Caruth:
ReplyDeleteAs an artist and art educator who is also a lesbian, I want to thank you for your thoughtful comments and your coverage of the few works in ArtPrize that deal directly with issues of civil rights for the LGBT community. While there is much written about ArtPrize in the media, your blog entry is the first I have seen that directly addresses entries in ArtPrize that deal with discrimination against the LGBT community.
Given your coverage of the issue, I would be remiss if I did not point out a particular irony about ArtPrize and Holland City Council’s refusal to end discrimination against LGBT people in housing and employment. As you noted, Brian Burch is indeed a member of Holland’s City Council. But this is not the whole story. In addition to the fact that Mr. Burch is one of four Holland City Council members who voted against the non-discrimination ordinance, he was also hired by ArtPrize as their Public Relations Director and is the moderator of this very blog. Strange bedfellows, don’t you think?! Given that Mr. Burch has used his position on the Holland City Council to support discrimination against the LGBT community, I wonder if he will allow my post to appear on the ArtPrize blog. To Mr. Burch I say, “You have had your opportunity to express your views. Please allow me to express mine.”
The above comment was originally posted on the ArtPrize blog. I have reposted it here in it's entirety in the event that it is edited or not posted on the ArtPrize blog.
ReplyDeleteNicole thank you for your candid coverage of artprize. I have always been suspicious of paid editorials, but you have presented fairly the kind of art dialog much needed in Western Michigan, especially since there is none eleven months of the year.
ReplyDeleteEric Fischl's interview is my favorite because he articulates very well something I have been trying to formulate in my own mind about the sad state of realist work presented in artprize. Most is technically proficient but has no soul or reason for being other than skill with materials. This I find consistent to all the one-liner sculptural work, which is so contradictory to contemporary art tropes.
Again, thank you and I hope you do return to Grand Rapids next year.
Deborah and Pfleghaar, thanks for your comments. I'm glad to have written this post for the AP blog.
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