Texas Tech’s College of Visual and Performing Arts removed its Art Faculty Exhibition from the Center for the Arts in Hobbs, New Mexico on January 16, 2015 in response to attempts to actively censor faculty artwork that was a part of that exhibition. While we are sensitive to the aims and goals of Lea County Commission for the Arts and the dictates of their community standards, we are entrusted with standards of our own paramount among which is protecting and nurturing the freedom of artistic expression of both our faculty and students on this campus and beyond. Moreover, it is essential to our mission and purpose to oppose any action that interferes with our commitment to nondiscrimination and inclusivity. Art exists to ask questions, to hold a mirror to our norms and encourage us to review their validity, to make us see ourselves for who we are and, as such, provide a vehicle for understanding, change and growth. Because art is sometimes necessarily evocative, art is often the target of censorship. While we understand that well-meaning people can be uncomfortable with the nature of artistic expression, and while we support reasonable measures to address those concerns, unilateral censorship is unsupportable. This incident, while regrettable, is an opportunity to reaffirm CVPA’s core values and an opportunity to encourage a discussion about this issue both within and outside this College. -Dean Carol Edwards
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 03:15:44 +0000
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