OT: Student’s art battle winds up unifying
stoney
{Colorado Springs}
May. 20, 2005
Student’s art battle winds up unifying
By MARK ARNEST THE GAZETTE
A Palmer High School student who had her art banned from a school
exhibit may have the last laugh.
Two large paintings of nudes by Courtney Alyn Eichengreen were not
allowed in a student art show; those two and a third had to be
finished outside school hours, when no other students were present.
None of the pictures would get an “R” rating from the Motion Picture
Association of America. But the problem wasn’t nudity and the issue
wasn’t censorship, said Palmer’s principal, Karin Reynolds. It was
that a friend of Eichengreen’s had posed for the photographs from
which Eichengreen painted.
“Courtney’s artwork is phenomenal,” Reynolds said. “But we’re not
going to hang pictures of our students nude.”
The subject of the photos was not identified.
Eichengreen chose the human form as the subject of her Palmer High
School International Baccalaureate senior art project. The program
requires the student to complete 12 works in his or her senior year.
Her first nine paintings weren’t of nudes. The problems began in
March, when Eichengreen, who had been painting at home, brought in the
10th canvas — a large, copper-colored acrylic of a woman folded over
herself against a black background.
“The art teachers really liked it,” Eichengreen said, but one teacher
warned her, “I don’t know if we can enter it in any shows.”
The reaction was chillier a few days later when Eichengreen brought in
the 11th painting, a more sensuous rendering of a crouching woman. As
in the previous piece, the figure’s face and breasts were partly
visible. The pieces were locked away, where Eichengreen could neither
work on them nor show them to her friends.
Eichengreen was allowed to work on the 12th and largest painting, in
which neither face nor breasts are visible, but only when other
students were not present.
Meanwhile, Eichengreen’s research workbook, which contained the
original photographs, was confiscated and given to the school’s
on-site police officer, who passed them to the Police Department’s
sex-crimes unit. Aside from the privacy issues involving the subject,
it is illegal to bring pornography onto school grounds.
Reynolds said such a procedure is unusual but not unheard-of.
“We always check when we have questions,” she said. “The Police
Department said they were OK.”
For a couple of weeks in March and April, the paintings were in limbo,
which could have had serious ramifications for Eichengreen. Her
International Baccalaureate portfolio was due April 15.
The degree would enable her to enter the University of Colorado at
Boulder next fall as a sophomore.
Eichengreen’s mother, Jody Alyn, said she is unhappy with the way the
school handled the situation.
“When we repress everything, kids can’t tell the difference between
exploitation and exploration,” she said. “That’s where the principal
really fell down.”
Reynolds defended the school’s handling of the case. “This was a very
unique situation,” she said. “You can’t make everyone happy.”
Eichengreen’s story has a happy ending. After the police signed off on
her art, she was allowed to finish the paintings in time to get her
International Baccalaureate degree. She’ll attend CU-Boulder in the
fall on a full scholarship as a chemical and biological engineering
major.
The Smokebrush Foundation, a downtown gallery, is going to display her
banned works. And she’s already had four-figure offers for them.
Though she described the experience as stressful, Eichengreen said she
was heartened by some of the support she received, including praise
from District 11 school board member Craig Cox, a conservative.
“That was cool,” Eichengreen said. “People we thought we didn’t agree
with on anything came out to support us. The art was a unifying
thing.”
Eichengreen’s banned works will be on display at the Smokebrush
Foundation from May 29 to June 22, with a formal opening reception
June 10 from 5 to 8 p.m.
Copyright 2005, The Gazette
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
Kate
Contrast this to the first class you take as a college freshman art
major one year later - drawing 101 which is mosly live nude models in
class.
stoney
Indeed. How sad 'education' stifles rather than encourages.