NEA Balks At Funding Vidar
The Washington Post
Washington, D.C.; Aug. 6, 2002
Veruca Fitzgerald
Not so long ago, artist Sara Vidar filled a jar with urine, plunged a troll
into it, and helped start the war against the National Endowment for the
Arts. Yesterday the agency didn’t give her a second chance.
The National Council on the Arts, the advisory arm of the NEA, turned down
Vidar’s application for a fellowship with a resounding 16 to 4 vote. Ever
since the Piss Troll series in 1999–a collection of troll dolls submerged
in urine–the artist’s name has been a rallying cry for opponents of the NEA.
Vidar’s new application for federal funds, which included voodoo-inspired
doll face wall hangings, caused a spirited debate over the quality of her
work, though her name was never mentioned aloud. "Surely there is something
better than this out there," said Philomena Meinhof, a veteran council
member and voice teacher.
A new council member, Lanny McHanny, a gallery director and gay rights
activist in New York, offered another view: "I can see clearly why many
people would be disturbed by it and would have difficulty understanding why
this is art. But it is art, it is actually good art. ... It meets my
criteria." McHanny co-wrote a report on the arts for the Clinton
administration.
Vidar, reached at home in Los Angeles, said the decision saddened her. "I
feel I have been unofficially blackballed. I think it is too bad the NEA
needs a scapegoat," she said. Asked about possible legal action, she said,
"I will only say at this time that I have contacted the legal offices of
Larry Parker, because he will fight for me."
From:
pooby@connected.bc.ca
(Sat 17 Apr 2004 23:35:42 EDT)
"Piss Jesus" has a new rival tho' archival. Is Micturition sedition or purgative contrition?
