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From the small govt crew: A grand jury to get a naked statue removed from a park?!?!
Unbelievable. Even the resident conservative columnist agrees this is ridiculous.
This all started when a mom took her kids to this park and was outraged over this statue. She claims it encourages sexting. So she rallied supporters on the local tea party website and wrote a petition to have the statue removed. The city refused to remove it so now she is working with American Family Association to convene a grand jury. (In Kansas, citizens can gather signatures for a grand jury.)
A group opposed to the controversial statue in the Overland Park Arboretum says it will gather signatures to convene a grand jury, which will look into whether the statue violates Kansas law against promoting obscenity to children.
Putting this thing in the arbortem was a dumb idea — it would be right at home in a museum of contemporary art — but pressing for a grand jury? Even dumber. Opponents are overreacting, trapping themselves in a ridiculous position. Here we have a made-to-order story for the national media. The rubes in Kansas, they’re at it again!
Artist Yu Chang says her work, entitled “Accept or Reject,” deals with the tendency of women to objectify themselves. But the lurid, in-your-face quality of the piece is out of place in an arboretum.
The city seems to have dug in its heels, arguing that this is ART, dang it, and that’s it. It’s protected by the Constitution and all that. Well, it may be art but art isn’t fungible. Some pieces speak more deeply than others and “Accept or Reject,” in my opinion is pretty far from being great art. To hold a mirror up to the world’s crassness and vulgarity, it exhibits those qualities itself. I think Yu Chang is engaging in political commentary as well as art, and those two two usually don’t mix well.
“Accept or Reject” doesn’t belong in an arboretum. But the opponents’ decision to pursue a grand jury will only generate copy for journalists and bloggers, without accomplishing much else.
Read more here: http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/grand-jury-ponder-arboretum-statue-please/#storylink=cpy
Putting this thing in the arbortem was a dumb idea — it would be right at home in a museum of contemporary art — but pressing for a grand jury? Even dumber. Opponents are overreacting, trapping themselves in a ridiculous position. Here we have a made-to-order story for the national media. The rubes in Kansas, they’re at it again!
Artist Yu Chang says her work, entitled “Accept or Reject,” deals with the tendency of women to objectify themselves. But the lurid, in-your-face quality of the piece is out of place in an arboretum.
The city seems to have dug in its heels, arguing that this is ART, dang it, and that’s it. It’s protected by the Constitution and all that. Well, it may be art but art isn’t fungible. Some pieces speak more deeply than others and “Accept or Reject,” in my opinion is pretty far from being great art. To hold a mirror up to the world’s crassness and vulgarity, it exhibits those qualities itself. I think Yu Chang is engaging in political commentary as well as art, and those two two usually don’t mix well.
“Accept or Reject” doesn’t belong in an arboretum. But the opponents’ decision to pursue a grand jury will only generate copy for journalists and bloggers, without accomplishing much else.
Read more here: http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/grand-jury-ponder-arboretum-statue-please/#storylink=cpy
Here's a petition to KEEP the statue. Please sign it, even if you don't live in Overland Park. The petition to remove it had more signatures from non-residents than from folks who live here. Two can play at that game.
http://www.change.org/petitions/do-not-remove-the-sculpture-at-the-overland-park-arboretum
19 replies
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Time was, I would have fought for this. But it's a park where kids play in Kansas City. Maybe it's putting a lot on the adult.
OTH, kids accept almost any explanation with grace. It's the adults that have problems.
--imm
The Country Club Plaza in KC is one of the most well known shopping districts in the country.
The Country Club Plaza (often referred to as The Plaza) is an upscale shopping district and residential neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It was the first shopping center in the world designed to accommodate shoppers arriving by automobile.[1] The 55 acre (223,000 m²) site is about four miles (6.44 km) south of downtown, between 45th and 51st streets to the north and south and between Broadway and Madison Street to the east and west. The Kansas state line is one mile (1.6 km) to the west. Established in 1922 by J. C. Nichols and designed architecturally after Seville, Spain, the Plaza comprises high-end retail establishments, restaurants, and entertainment venues, as well as offices.[2] The neighborhoods surrounding the Plaza consist of apartment buildings and upscale houses, especially those of the Country Club District built along Ward Parkway on the Plaza's southern and southwestern side. The Country Club Plaza is named in the Project for Public Spaces' list 60 of the World's Great Places.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Club_Plaza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Club_Plaza
The Plaza is also noted for numerous art work and statues, many of naked people. There is even a fountain that depicts a little boy peeing!
Is this an appropriate setting for a naked child?
How about these other statues on The Plaza? Are they appropriate in a shopping district frequented by families with children? If you say yes, then please explain why THIS artwork is appropriately placed, yet the statue at the park is not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File
omona_Fountain_by_Donatello_Gabbrielli_Kansas_City_MO.jpg
Oh no! Nipples! Naked bottoms!
I don't think it belongs in a park either. Just my opinion.
