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Bill O'Rights · 11-23-2004, 09:39 AM

Quote:

LINCOLN - A McCook, Neb., elementary school principal said she was protecting students last week when she asked that a drape cover a painting in a traveling art exhibit that included a semi-nude woman. Kathy Latta, who oversees two kindergarten through third-grade schools in McCook, said a second-grade teacher first raised concerns about the painting, "Widow's Walk" by James Cantrell, after her students visited the exhibit.

Latta said she requested the draping after viewing the painting herself at a McCook museum.

"I didn't think that was appropriate for kindergartners to third-graders to see during school time," Latta said. "If parents want to do that outside school time, that's fine."

At least one local parent called the incident a clear case of censorship.

"One person's opinion is deciding for everyone what is art and what isn't - she can decide for herself, not for all of us," said Lorri Sughroue of McCook, mother of three daughters.

The action brought mixed reviews from those contacted in McCook, a southwestern Nebraska city of 8,000 people. It also revived memories of a similar draping of a sculpture in a traveling exhibit a decade ago.

"Widow's Walk" was among 25 pieces in an annual, traveling exhibit sponsored by the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery in Lincoln called "No Place like Home."

The exhibit, which explores the meaning of home and homelessness in America, opened in June at the Sheldon and was shown in Chadron and North Platte before opening Nov. 15 at the High Plains Museum in McCook. The exhibit continues next year with stops in Fremont, Aurora, Columbus, Grand Island and Nebraska City.

A Sheldon spokeswoman said although it's up to each community to decide what's appropriate for each age group, the human body has been a subject for artists for centuries and is something schoolchildren "see" at home.

"It's not pornography. It's not meant to be sexual. It's artwork," said marketing director Jessica Kennedy. "But values do differ, and people may choose not to show that to young students."

She added that a North Platte school principal had sent a letter of concern about the painting when it was shown there.

In "Widow's Walk," the side profile of a woman, wearing a brassiere and nothing else, is visible through an upstairs window of a Victorian home.

"Widow's Walk," was included in the exhibit for its depiction of architecture and its reference to privacy. The woman, whose face is in the shadows, appears to be pictured while undressing.

The artist, Cantrell, is a Wilber, Neb., native who attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and now lives in Kentucky.

Barb Michaelis, a volunteer co-chairwoman of the exhibit, said that when she escorted a group of third-graders through the exhibit last week, there was little reaction to the painting. But a group of first-graders began giggling when they saw "Widow's Walk."

"It was a distraction," Michaelis said. "I couldn't keep their attention afterwards."

Another volunteer tour guide, Kay Flaska, said she disagreed with the draping and wasn't offended by the painting. "In my view," she said, "we see far worse things in TV and movies, even catalogs."

Michaelis acknowledged that views were divided within the local art guild, but she decided to use caution.

"We didn't quite know what to do," she said. "In a sense it's censorship, but then again people have a right to censor what their children see."

Michaelis said that the draping affected only school visits and that the McCook High School art teacher will decide whether students of that age see the painting.

Kennedy, of the Sheldon, said the controversy will prompt a discussion about the works sent on traveling exhibits. The gallery, she said, may opt for more training of outstate volunteers so they can better explain pieces that might draw community controversy.

Though it's a rare occurrence, it wasn't the first time that a piece of art on a Sheldon exhibit has been draped.

About a decade ago, an abstract, bronze sculpture, "Sarcophagus of Angelica" by Alexander Archipenko, was said to show a couple involved in sex. Michaelis said the work was draped after complaints by a conservative group of home-school advocates. The work may have been draped elsewhere, Kennedy said.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1640&u_sid=1266498

All I can say is, I think that the bigger the deal is made over this, then the more attention it generates. People need to grow up and pull the stick out.