Dear Artist,
This week, 500 women, mostly artists, teachers and art professionals, met online to discuss working together to understand their role in a racist society. In an effort to unburden people of colour from educating everyone else on a centuries-long struggle for equality and justice, those participating in this event were white. I included myself because, although I am half-white and half-Japanese, my life experience feels heavily weighted towards a person who benefits from white privilege.
A view of a landscape: A cotton gin motor, (2012–2018)
Cotton gin motor, microphones, soundproofing and audio hardware
by Kevin Beasley (b.1985)
Our moderator organized the meeting in response to the murder of George Floyd, a black man and father of three who was suffocated by a Minneapolis policeman while his fellow officers watched. The event, filmed on a cell phone, was one of dozens of horrific acts of racially motivated hatred and police brutality in recent weeks. Following this flashpoint, devastated citizens are searching for ways to listen, learn, support, and ultimately dismantle an all-pervasive system designed to oppress people of colour.
Because we were mostly art people, our moderator proposed a structure that modelled an art critique. “In no other professional model that I know of, does a person expose herself to her peers so wholly in order to learn.” Crits are collaborative activities that require vulnerability and the respectful and honest discussion of an artist’s work-in-progress. Crits, while often difficult, make better artists. In the giving and accepting of feedback, we can learn to explore concepts to better understand and then advance or redesign ideas. While the crit itself is not activism, it sparks consciousness-raising — a bud of transformation and action-taking. Most important, the crit functions to serve the work, not the person who makes the work. Ours, guided by a handful of thoughtful leaders, began with the questions, “What is white supremacy?” and “What does it mean to be anti-racist?” and included the telling of personal and professional narratives around the subject of race, then invited feedback, offered a reading and resource list and finally, provided a discussion of a relevant artwork. It was uncomfortable, loving and powerful, as a crit should be. It was just the beginning.
Untitled (…just watch), 2015
Nautica rain jacket, resin
37 × 38 × 20 inches
by Kevin Beasley
Sincerely,
Sara
PS: “It’s the system, and our complacency in that system, that gives racism its power, not individual intent.” (Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race)
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” (Maya Angelou)
Esoterica: What can 500 white women art professionals, or anyone, do to move the needle of humanity away from racism and its systems? It may begin with inquiry — something artists have been doing all their lives. The desire to crit the art world and our role in it speaks to the very nature of art. And women now comprise some 60 percent of museum staffs and make up 20 percent of the curatorial, conservation, and education roles — roles that can be pathways toward leadership positions and therefore structural change. In fact, as of 2018, the percentage of women in museum leadership positions, such as Director, CFO, and CEO was 62 percent. As roles diversify, so do the ideas and lenses through which we value and engage with art, the stories we tell and what our institutions can be. As of 2019, black artists continue to have the lowest share of museum representation, with just 1.2 percent. In curatorial roles, representation of black voices has moved from 2 percent in 2015 to 4 percent in 2018, according to a survey conducted by The Association of Art Museum Directors, The American Alliance of Museums and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” (Maya Angelou)
Untitled (Sea), 2016
House dresses, resin, and fiberglass
82 x 96 x 26 1/2 inches
by Kevin Beasley
“An artist must bear a special responsibility. He must be accountable for the content of his work. And that work should reflect a deep, abiding concern for humanity.” (Charles White)
Director Ava DuVernay’s 2016, Oscar-nominated documentary 13th is an examination of the U.S. prison system and how America’s history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. It has been made available to everyone by its distributer, here.
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” (Toni Morrison)
Featured Workshop
The Killarney are of Ontario is in what is called the ‘near north’. The landscape is wild and rugged. Giant granite cliffs plunging deep into the glacial lakes. There are no roads leading to our painting locations. We travel by a large, sturdy pontoon boat. This is a self-catered retreat. You bring your own provisions and cook your own meals in our fully equip cabins at a northern camp. Our instructor, Keith Thirgood, has been teaching artists his own unique approach to painting for over 12 years. Learn how to find order in the chaos, control your colours and create paintings that work. Learn modern colour theory, values, shapes and lines, what makes for a good painting. This retreat is suitable for beginners wanting to learn to paint in a fun, outdoor location, as well as more experienced studio artists who want to try plein air, plus artists who are looking to loosen up and paint in a more post-impressionist style. To find out more and register, please visit www.wilsonstreetstudios.
Turn In The Road24x30 acrylic
Featured Artist
My art represents an artistic journey that has been on-going for more than thirty-five years with help and guidance from many wonderful artists. Now, with years of plein-air painting experience, study and solo exhibitions, I believe that my current work has reached its highest level, reflecting the depth of my absorption in the wonder and beauty of the world around me. I have learned that, as an artist, I will never stop looking for better ways to express my feelings in art and that struggling to more fully understand myself is integral to my painting; a philosophy that was part of every workshop I taught. Still is.
59 Comments
OMG. You’ve joined the ignorant. Paint a pretty face on it!
Oh dear God, I can’t believe that this group actually did this, Your group didn’t “unburden”’people of color by not inviting them into the discussion, you completely ignored them. How can you possibly have an intelligent discussion about racism while committing an act of racism and not asking black artists about their experiences and needs? This is so wrong I can hard articulate my outrage. How would you feel if a group of 500 men got together to discuss women’s plight, or if you were told that they didn’t want to burden you by not asking for your feedback and they experience. The fact that 500 people thought this was perfectly ok makes it even worse.
Kathy I’d like to offer a different perspective. From my understanding in the work I’ve been doing to educate myself, what Sara’s group did is not racist, it’s being a responsible ally. First we must get our own distorted perspectives into alignment and then we are able to be present for meaningful, effective dialogue with those who are harmed by the system we’re implicit in maintaining.
As a woman, I would want the 500 men to meet on their own first to get clear on their own bias before dialoguing with me as to the harm that bias causes me directly.
It diffuses defensiveness and shame in the oppressor so they can be fully present to hear the impact of those they have been oppressing.
And with this comment: ” In an effort to unburden people of colour from educating everyone else on a centuries-long struggle for equality and justice, those participating in this event were white.” Sara is speaking to the fact that it is not the responsibility of the oppressed, nor should they be asked to give their energy, to educate the oppressor. First we do that work, then we ask how we can help.
Open to further alternate perspectives, happy to stay in respectful dialogue.
Good response and perspective Liz!
I’m also mindful Kathy of your very good point about the inability of one group to understand the impact on another without input.
To that, there is bountiful input in the world. Investigating the work of Black writers and listening to their podcasts or following their writings on social media, there is an extensive education to be had on the impact of systemic racism in their lives.
Thank you Liz for your thoughtful and respectful reply and for giving me a different perspective on this issue. I strive to see things like this from a different viewpoint so I welcome this dialog. I think you and I, and probably Sara, have the same goals and values on this issue, We are just coming at this from a different perspective and different set of experiences. I live in the US and grew up during the 1960’s and 1970s. I vividly remember the protests and demonstrations of that time, the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the discussions I had (and still have) with my black friends and colleagues. This included heart-breaking stories of what they did, and still, go through on a daily basis as a black person living in the US. I agree with you that reading books on this topic by black authors is good for our own education as white people. And I also agree with you that it is not the job of the oppressed to educate the oppressor. Yet in my culture and my experience, talking about other people or what another group of people need and how to help them, without asking and listening to them first, without asking for their experiences and being willing to just listen is not meaningful. Some people where I live would consider that to be patronizing and rude at best, although I’m sure that was not anyone’s intention here. If black artists had been invited to join this group discussion I personally think the discussion would have been more effective and meaningful. Unlike you, if a group of men got together to discuss how to help me as a woman without any input I would be just as offended. So perhaps you and I are coming at this from a different viewpoint, both of which have validity. Thank you for sharing your view while being respectful of mine. And Sara, my apologies to you as I’m sure your intentions were good. This is a very difficult time in the US and in our global history and we all feel very strongly about these issues, myself included. Perhaps you could include an interview with some black artists on these issues as a follow-up. Thanks for allowing me to share my perspective.
All great insights Kathy, thank you.
To clarify, I would not want a group of men to come together to determine how to help me as a woman.
I don’t need them to help me, I need them to stop harming the group that I am a part of. I need them to get clear how their beliefs and actions (or inaction) don’t help me, and to use their increased awareness to change the system that supports their privilege and my oppression.
And yes to the voices of Black artists being included and honoured.
I am wondering what they actually did discuss. Did they focus on more on white complicity in a white world, white supremacy, from its ugliest forms through micro aggressions? I didn’t get that they focused on what black people in America need and how to help them. Hopefully, they came away with more questions versus answers. If they did try to come up with ‘how to help’ without input from those they want to help, then I agree that is often a condescending approach, well-intentioned or not.
My wife is a Legal Services lawyer and a member of a white anti-racist group at her office. This is a group that was formed with the full knowledge and at the recommendation of management, which is led by people of color. I understand the purpose of such a group is not to exclude people of color but to encourage independent self-education on the part of white people. The point is not to help people of color. It’s to take on the work of unpacking and dismantling one’s own racism, which is the responsibility of white people.
Wonderful response, Lisa. Thank you for offering a balancing perspective while honoring Kathy’s well-stated concerns.
There is a definite gap in information going on here….Mr. Floyd….may he rest in peace….was not asphyxiated, although his pleas for not being able to breathe pointed to the knee on his neck, and a complete disregard by the owner of that knee for breathing room….an undeniable outrage. Mr. Floyd was the owner of a dicey ticker (bad heart), he was on drugs adverse to his condition, he was thought to be passing funny money and the police were called in to apprehend him, which they did using civil methods until Mr. Floyd decided to make a run for it. So….what does the news focus on? that he was the innocent father of 3 cruelly abused by the police for no reason….?
Even though the call for racial justice points the finger at our police force time and again, the people of color often apprehended by the police are in fact criminals, and often dangerous ones. Our police force, especially in urban areas, is typically a working racial mix of very under appreciated people….think of that video of 2 policemen running towards a shooter who would have definitely killed many people in a down town bar.
It is interesting that a jury/crit, whatever you want to call it, comprised of all white WOMEN artists, can possibly think they will have an impact when MEN and PEOPLE of COLOR are not included! Ridiculous assumption at best.
The police are not the judge and jury. Everyone should be treated with respect, good or bad. Mr. Floyd did not have a weapon and he said he couldn’t breathe. The police should have stopped kneeling on his throat, period.
exactly SueEllen!
And thank you Sara, as always, for your efforts, concerns, and carrying on the traditions of your dearly loved father.
Joan, the death of George Floyd has been ruled a homicide. Whether cutting off the blood flow to his brain caused a heart attack or caused him to die of asphyxiation is not relevant what is relevant is that police killed a man so casually, with so little concern that the entire world is outraged.
George Floyd did not “try to run away” the police stuffed him into the back of a cop car but he was claustrophobic. At some point the killing police officer drug him out of the car where he proceeded to kneel on his neck for eight minutes and forty six seconds. Two full minutes beyond the point where one of the officers said he couldn’t find a pulse. I saw the video, the casualness on that officers face is one of the most evil things I have ever seen. Casual, smirking.
There is no evidence that George Floyd knew the 20 dollar bill was forged. The owner of the store said he was sorry his clerk call 911, that the typical procedure is to offer the person with the “funny money” as you call it is to offer the person with the money the option of surrendering the cash to the store or filing a complaint with the police, regardless there was no reason for four police officers to abuse a respected member of the community for a bad $20.
Any drugs in his system had nothing to do with police abuse and are not cited by the police coroner nor the private autopsy done by the Floyd family.
I question the wisdom of a meeting of all white women to solve the racism problems. White women, including myself, have good ideas but we also have a history of deciding how to solve the problems without checking with black women to see if our ideas are helpful or even if we have identified the problem that black women/artists have. Maybe if the group seeks out good black mentors to guide the path it would be a bit better. The black women I am learning from have said repeatedly, if you want to change racism join our groups, let black women/artist be the leaders and there are plenty of black groups to join.
But what you are advocating is denial of the problem. Black people are not all criminals. There is far too much evidence available to continue the fabrication that black people are all criminals and deserve the abuse they receive by our institutions including the police.
Chinton Wheeler, Well stated.
Unfortunately misinformation about George Floyd’s “dicey heart” got a great deal of mileage, before his actual cause of death was determined.
Under normal circumstances, his unrelated heart condition and the report that he ran would have been the only story printed, and his and case would be closed.
Many of us have unknowingly been given ‘funny money’ at stores.
The difference is that none of us have been slammed to the ground with a beefy man’s knee cutting off our breathing for that, or any other mistake.
Your information is incorrect. Mr Floyd tested positive for ‘recent’ use of fentanyl and meth. “Recent” is key because these drugs are detectable long after the high us over. And his second autopsy stated that his heart attack was the result of 9 minutes of suppression of his carotid artery and asphyxiation. Even the store owner said that it was highly unlikely that Floyd knew the $20 bill was a forgery. Forged bills are rarely passed from forger to retailer. 99.9% of the time the person using the bill has no idea it is fake. The videos clearly show that he was not resisting arrest. At the very least by the time he was lying on his stomach and hand-cuffed. Chauvin’s knee remained on Floyd’s neck AFTER he stopped talking. Another piece that has come to light is that he seemed to be having a panic attack at one point. There are other factors as well that should be pursued. More will be revealed over time. However, all of this is moot because even if he did everything you say, he didn’t deserve to die for it. Black men and women in America are terrified of the police for good reason. They die if they cooperate. They die if they don’t.
It seems, at least to me, that this group came together as a first step. Racism in America is such a hard discussion to have. White privilege is very blind and has been in place for 400 years. It is going to take a lot of time and commitment for white people to look long and hard at how we benefit even not wanting to. And we will need the honest input of POC.
You know it’s irrelevant what exactly was the official cause of death. The policeman was so out of line it makes me want to puke. Would Floyd have died that day if they had handcuffed him and protecting his head out him in the car and taken him to the station?
This is fabulous Sara, so grateful to see one more place the wave of this shift is carrying momentum. As those of us we who are white and centered in privilege are finally waking up and doing the work of understanding what that means – and what’s needed from us to foster real change in this broken system that marginalizes any beings, the needle is moving. Now to keep our collective foot on the gas…
Yes to connection, and to art – such powerful vehicles for change.
Please remove me from the devastated citizen list as I am not. Nor am I prejudiced. Whatever predjudices I have were learned
Please stick to the subject, ya know police brutality. I am white and have been harassed by the police before, a number of times. So how about sticking to the subject. Yes racism is an issue and I am completely empathetic to it. Read Democracy in Chains for a very serious look at racism , division and power. It goes back to an original signer, John C. Calhoun from south carolina.
The cop kept his knee on the back of Mr. Floyd’s neck for 3 minutes after he passed out. The coroner, after an autopsy, declared the death a homicide. The police did not use civil methods. There was no “running” with a knee crushing the back of his neck and he was handcuffed. He was murdered. Whatever his alleged crime, cops are not juries or judges, and no human should die because they were on drugs or a suspect in a crime of property.
The latest protests over George Floyd demonstrate yet again that it is time to expand our loyalty beyond patriotism. it is time to emphasize our connectiveness. It is time for a World Pledge:
“I am part of a vital unity, linking me with all humanity and humanity with all life, and I champion a world where each may prosper and all may continue.”
WOW! Here here, Bill!!! The World Pledge is stated with simple passion, compassion, and underlying love. A perfect mantra for all of us.
Well said Bill.
1.2 percent artwork in museums are by black artists! Heartbreaking!
I’m sad about your decision on this, it is not inclusive, it is racist the very thing you are trying to suppress .
Sadly racism is a worldwide illness that needs action not more meetings. Get out there and do something to educate the ignorant others because no matter what the colour they are actually human and many are very talented creative people
There are valid arguments for having this type of “seminar” on both sides. I believe it opens up the discussion. That is a good thing. But, I also agree we must ALL take part. I feel excluded and I’m a white woman artist. How would a black man artist feel. Quoting Rodney King” Why can’t we all just get Along?”
You just lost me as a subscriber. White priviledge is a term you guilty do-gooders use to confirm your assumed guilt. I am white and I certainly haven’t been privileged at anything. I have had to work my butt off all my life to make any headway.
Sara, your attitude needs adjustment. Have you heard any definitive change that the black race can define in words other than “Hope and Change.” Change to what? I want to hear it in words. I want change too, but you won’t see me smashing windows and stealing Gucci handbags and Michael Jordan basketball shoes. I am sick and tired of any race being coddled, expectations lowered, affirmative action (racism personified) employed, and excuses made for. My family never owned slaves. Why should I be held out as a white privileged citizen beholden to make up for behavior from 300 years ago. I don’t see any country in Africa prospering. Maybe it is a race thing. Good luck, Sara in backing a lost cause.
You would need to start listening in or to hear.
Art shouldn’t need to pander, nor ask someone else’s permission …
I would like to address the critical posts regarding Sara’s 500-member group working to understand their role in racism. People criticized this group claiming how wrong it was to exclude people of color. I have never considered myself a racist but one month before Ahmaud Arberry was assassinated, a friend asked me (we are both native Texans) to join her new Book Club, which include three Black women from Charleston SC who are friends of hers. The book we are reading, and I highly recommend, is I’M STILL HERE: BLACK DIGNITY IN A WORLD MADE FOR WHITENESS by Austin Channing Brown, a Black author. We also joined a Facebook group, “Be the Bridge” created by the Black author of the same book title in order to learn how we can effectively be an ally to people of color; how to be “anti-racist”; how to know what to say and what not to say to people of color especially during recent events. One of the requirements of the “Be the Bridge” FB group is for white members of the group are required to be totally silent for three months before we can add a comment to the group and we have to complete reading about seven units – all about racism, before we can add our thoughts to the ongoing conversation. This is to enable us to work through our biases as we learn history of racism in the U.S. and to familiarize ourselves on all the vocabulary and research that has been done on this subject. There are many good books out there by people of color as well as white authors to teach us how to fight this systemic racism. Worthy reads are: WHITE FRAGILITY – Robin Diangelo; HOW TO BE AN ANTI-RACIST by Ibram X. Kendi etc.
Sara, I applaud you and the 500 artists who are willing to subject yourself to learning content that at the least is uncomfortable but always very painful discoveries about systemic racism. Surely artists have a responsibility not only to respond to racism but also, they have a responsibility to create work that can educate and enlighten people who are not willing to delve into learning about this subject. The mantra I keep hearing as I study this heartbreaking subject is “We don’t know what we don’t know until we know.” I agree 100% with that concept. I am close to several people of color: Black, Hispanic and Native American and I can honestly say I wish I had not waited so long to learn from the experiences of what these friends have endured for decades in order to effectively be an ally for them. I love and always learn from your articles, Sara, and I believe you are following in your Father’s footsteps in leading by example through your newly formed group. Good luck!
Not sure if this may help… “An artist is above all a human being, profoundly human to the core. If the artist can’t feel everything that humanity feels, if the artist isn’t capable of loving until he forgets himself and sacrifices himself if necessary, if he won’t put down his magic brush and head the fight against the oppressor, then he isn’t a great artist.”
“I know now that he who hopes to be universal in his art must plant in his own soil. Great art is like a tree, which grows in a particular place and has a trunk, leaves, blossoms, boughs, fruit, and roots of its own. The more native art is, the more it belongs to the entire world, because taste is rooted in nature. When art is true, it is one with nature. This is the secret of primitive art and also of the art of the masters Michelangelo, Cezanne, Seurat, and Renoir. The secret of my best work is that it is Mexican.” – Diego Rivera
Thank you Gregory. To whom do we attribute the first quotation?
Surely those who hate, hate secondhand; they get to feel it first.
love,
Nancy
Both quotes are from Diego Rivera.
Any action is better than no action, even if it isn’t “ perfect”. Doing nothing supports the problem. There isnt any perfect place, time, or people to start the dialogue, attend the march, get out the VOTE, write letters, send emails to authorizes etc. we, the People together must push for change. …and Listen…
This is great! I am so excited that people feel open to expressing their different points of view to the group. I am with Sara and her group. I hear Kathy and Gary and the others with whom I disagree. I am grateful for their willingness to share their points of view. Without them it is just an echo chamber. Without everyone’s openness, nobody learns anything. And that is really what we are trying to do here.
In lieu of all the criticism let’s get down to the work of making Art to bring about the change WE MUST MAKE. (Interesting that all photos of art in this newsletter are made by men. )
Here is a very interesting perspective from a black man. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=254547745620237
I am glad you shared this video, thank you.
Len, Powerful message. Thankyou for sharing.
You can find anything on the internet if you look for it. Don’t believe everything you see and half of what you hear. I have yet to see white people begging for forgiveness.
People are out there to support the outrage and stand with citizens of their country and are welcomed. There is negativity everywhere. Be careful.
Thanks For this it was helpful.
Here is another person saying something similar
https://www.facebook.com/thehodgetwins/videos/292000931822483/
Thanks Dale. It’s an eye opening education to listen to the flip side of the story that media is spoon feeding the mindless masses. We have to ask ourselves why does the media not want to present both sides of the story.
We will only create a better world if we really listen and understand the other. That does not mean agree. Each person has to find their own way to that goal. Action is required to go forward. To create a painting one has to pick up a paint brush!
Hear, here. Excellent point. I believe it is a primary message of Raphael’s School of Athens, that the Greater Wisdom of mankind is derived from reconciling the opposing viewpoints of the greatest minds, which moves Art and Society forward, and which should be celebrated. “Action is required to go forward” … “one has to pick up a paint brush”. Well said.
Thanks for this video. I am white and have been wondering about the black side. It’s about all sides looking inside at our selves, I believe. We all need to be responsible and accountable for our own behavior. There is much we need to do together to heal what ails us.
That video speaks volumes. I refuse to feel guilt over my ancestors behaviour and decisions or my own since I have been forgiven and I forgive myself. Am I perfect? Far from it. Do I strive to treat my fellow man by the golden rule. Yes, every day.
Do I want to listen to others who have had difficult challenges. By all means!
Have I had lived through my own history of abuse and oppression against myself growing up. Yup just like many others have had from all walks of life.
Do I demand or expect others to hear my story. No, but if you are interested I will share.
Do I hold bitterness or some sort of expectation that I need hear apologies from those that wronged me. No. I did at one time, but the day I let that go, a huge burden came off my spirit.
Now I am free to love others, to love myself and to create.
I grew up poor and did not know it. I grew up brown and did not know it.i grew up with laughter, with tears, with learning through my family and small community and did not know it. I was a blank canvas that was painted by the world and did not know it. Only, now in the autumn of my life, have I come to learn that many never had that choice. It is our time to paint a portrait of our lives. Breathe deep the kaleidoscope of our differences and together paint a masterpiece. We all ,, as, family, an “Ohana” … IMUA,
Great Juan.
Sara, thank you for another amazing letter. I did not expect such responses, and I am sure you did not either. Take a breath and keep sharing and educating your fans. We all need to grow in this racial crisis, I certainly need to do so myself. and I think we are on our way to a better understanding than we had months ago.
Barbara – thank you. Reading through all the responses gave me an “aha” moment; how dare I think I have a clue about empathy with the black experience or my biases? I just said to myself what I have said to others……You don’t know what you don’t know. Thank you for the resources!
Twenty one years ago, a friend who worked with refugee families told me how lonely they were, isolated in their homes, I have a talent or skill as a fabric artist, so decided to start a group, teaching these women to make quilts and in the past twentyone years over 300 women from 40 different ethnic cultures have been taught by a team of volunteer quilters using recycled donated fabrics, by a large community of people. Noone pays and noone is paid. some are migrants, some are refugees, we are all beautiful women, colour/religion/language has never been a barrier. Loneliness is the greatest form of poverty. We have all learnt so much, from each other. Earthquakes, shootings of our beautiful Muslim people and now Covid virus will not stop this amazing group.
. Kathleen Burford Christchurch New Zealand.
How about dropping all the political verbiage and genuflecting, and getting on with “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Not too complicated.
You nailed it Karin! It is so easy even a child can learn to do that.
I think I’m going to throw up. I didn’t open your email to be told what a bad person I am because I’m white and, gasp, a male. Surely I’m a racist! No, wait, I’ve been disabled for over 50 years because somebody drove drunk and nearly killed me. When applying for a job the interviewer asked, “What’s this leg thing.” I know discrimination. Yeah, I guess, I’m a white supremacist but maybe not. I married a beautiful Mexican, she hated the term Hispanic, girl who passed away 10 years ago. We met racism along the way but we didn’t go out and riot and burn buildings and kill white cops.
I’m so sick of you holier than thou people telling me I should be ashamed because I’m a white male. I have a very good friend who’s a very successful artist and I’m the one who put up the money for him to leave his 9 to 5 job and go out and be an artist full time.
Please take my address off your list.
Ah, so sad. People not being able to see past their own noses! Sara and her group are not trying to “educate” anyone else. They are trying to learn, to finding a way to understand, working toward doing less harm. That’s not something you get to be walking out in a huff, or putting down the other. What happened to the artist being the canary in the coal mine of society? Sara you continue to have my respect and admiration for your guts, conviction and determination, the very foundation of meaningful art. It is just plain useless talking to the other side until you have some very basics clear. And in fact you may never need/want to talk to the other if you get your shit in order, quit hurting them with behaviours you are not yet conscious of. And I don’t care who the other is, because there are many.
Wow! You inspire people Sara. Thank you. Getting to know myself and where my blindspots lie has been most helpful in building relationships. Carry on!
Not that I think black artists are fairly represented in museums, I just do not accept undocumented percentages at face value. How is that even measured? What items are included, when was that determined?
If you have a chance to see the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, do. The work of Frederick J. Brown in their permanent collection is extensive and inspiring for all portrait artists.