Jun 15, 2008

The right way to solve art disputes

Editorial

A quarrel over art in downtown San Mateo has sharply illustrated the need for the city to launch a formal arts commission to determine what is suitable for public tastes.

Given that the city's emerging public arts program may lead to more debates like this, such a panel can relieve city administrators, planners and lawyers from refereeing future artistic disputes. The city arts program, after all, is already two years old.

The recent art-censorship clash occurred at the downtown transit center, where pictures of nude, cartoonish figures that featured some profanities in a city-sponsored display caused a ruckus. City officials suggested removing two of the drawings but the artist balked, triggering more controversy and a search for solutions.

The curator, Sinem Banna, complained the city was attempting to censor the arts. She was in a similar run-in at City Hall, where she curated a show that included a photo with an exposed female breast. The picture was removed.

Then she lost her job as curator there. Banna suggested her dismissal was retaliatory, while the city countered it was a staffing adjustment unrelated to the show.

Deciding what needs to be on public display is no easy decision. Provocative pieces commonly displayed inside museums can draw complaints when seen in public spaces.

These are matters for an independent arts commission to weigh.

The case has highlighted the role for the panel, which could be running by September, according to Bob Beyer, the city's community development director. We hope it is. We also think that one of its first responsibilities can be to determine what to do with pictures of bald, cartoonish nudes.