JT Chamber responds to artwork controversy

George Kopp, President of the JT Chamber, has written a letter to local desert magazine The Sun Runner regarding the request from the chamber to not display a painting by Rik Livingston. Here in part is the letter:

"This was the Chamber's first art exhibit, and we made our share of mistakes in managing it. Rik is one of our favorite artists. We love his work -- that's why we asked him to do this show. We've commissioned work from him in the past, and he has been great to work with. I know from the True World Gallery that the gallerist will always work with the artist in choosing the works to display. That process fell down in the Chamber. There was no review, and that was our bad. Rik came in and hung the show, and then we heard these complaints. Believe me, I was shocked, amazed and flabbergasted at these complaints, but as Chamber president I had to take them seriously.

We are a broad-based community organization with members throughout the Morongo Basin, and our board reflects that. We rarely have dissenting votes because we almost always reach a consensus before the vote is taken. At yesterday's board meeting (and it was a regularly scheduled board meeting, not a special meeting) we held a long, serious and most of all, respectful discussion. I think we were all sensitive to each other's concerns. In the end, I think it is fair to say some board members voted not with their hearts but with their heads. We compromised, especially since the process had been deeply flawed from the beginning.

I spent part of this morning reviewing Art In Public Spaces Guidelines from various communities. What they all have in common is a stringent review policy, although (interestingly) I found no aesthetic or content guidelines. Basically, the choice is left up to a committee which has been given the authority to choose the art by the local governing body. It's an issue of everyone agreeing from the get-go that X,Y, and Z individuals have the authority to make the choices. We did not have that in place, and this controversy is the result."

Rik responds:

"I should mention here that this decision by the JTCOC seems an aberration to their usual good works. I haven't brought this up to cast personal derision upon any of the members. (I have actually bragged about how cool the Chamber JT is in comparison to other communities!) I bring up this controversy only because I wish to educate those who complained about such innocuous imagery that there are other members of the community who WANT to enjoy art in a OPEN and FREEDOM-LOVING environment."

The point needs to be made that the repressive 1% is not more powerful than the united voices of the artists of Joshua Tree! I am trying to give the Chamber a reason, and the backing, to stand up for what most of us seem to agree on, but they almost seem to want to see it as a PERSONAL attack on THEM.

Now I'm stuck trying to make the point that repressing images of the body will make us a laughing stock of an art town, a place no one will take seriously, while still making the members of the Chamber realize I understand the pressure they are under from people with body issue hang-ups...and I DO realize it. I ran a Cultural Center and had to deal with this also..."

While Rik's painting of The Dream Screen will not be seen in the show, is is available through www.absolutearts.com