The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Art that creates thoughtful discourse deserves exhibition”
by Olivia Lueckemeyer
Student artwork considered too controversial for public display at the Crested Butte Community School will be featured in the upstairs gallery of the Guild Café through the end of the month, beginning this Sunday, March 20.
The featured pieces are the products of an advanced placement (AP) art assignment in which junior and senior student participants were instructed to choose a newspaper article from any publication as inspiration. Social issues such as suicide, gun violence and underage drinking were a few of the subjects considered inappropriate by teacher Ben McLoughlin and secondary school principal Stephanie Niemi for viewing by young or at-risk students. Consequently, the pieces were deemed unfit to hang in the school.
Upon hearing about the project and the decision to restrict display, director of the Guild Arts Collective Heather Bischoff offered the Guild Café as a venue for short-term exhibition of the pieces.
“Art that is provocative and creates thoughtful discourse certainly deserves exhibition,” Bischoff said. “Support for free expression through art is the mission of Guild Arts. By offering a unique venue for creators, we hold a space for viewers to contemplate contemporary artwork and pertaining concepts.”
McLoughlin was satisfied with the offer and found it to be a fair compromise to protect the interests of the school and the students who had hoped the public could have a chance to view their work.
“I’m excited about it,” McLoughlin said. “I feel we made the right choice at the school but it is nice, a lot of people are curious, to allow those folks in the public who want to see what’s going on and talk more about it to come and check it out.”
Junior Rowan Pannier’s creation featured an article from the Crested Butte News about a high school party busted on New Year’s Eve when several minors received possession citations. Her work was banned from public display because it highlighted underage drinking. While she understood the school’s reasoning, Pannier said initially she and her peers were slightly frustrated with the decision.
“We understood that it’s a K-12 school and so we can’t have everything up because it’s not always appropriate,” Pannier explained. “It was kind of funny, we were all joking around about being ‘real artists’ now because we were being censored. We had a good attitude, but it was kind of a bummer we couldn’t have it for everyone to see.”
Despite her initial disappointment, Pannier says she is more than pleased with the end result of an exhibition at the Guild.
“We are all super excited because having it at the Guild will give us way more publicity than we would ever have at the school,” Pannier said.
An opening reception to welcome the students in exhibition will be held on Sunday, March 20 at 4 p.m. at the Guild Café at 21 Elk Ave. The public is invited to attend. Bischoff is excited to not only display the pieces but also introduce the students to the option of self-publishing their work in the future, as many transition into college and expand their artistic careers.
“I think it’s important to teach young artists that there are options,” Bischoff said. “We are not trying to undermine the judgment of the school, but to give kids the opportunity to be creative and find another outlet.”
