The American Dissident: Literature, Democracy & Dissidence


 

Cape Cod Museum of Art

The Cape Cod Museum of Art has been somewhat unresponsive. In 2012, I did receive a response from its director regarding a cartoon I'd sketched on her and others. Scroll down after the following email to examine it and the response. The following proposal for an art exhibit was simply ignored by the Exhibions Curator, Michael A. Giaquinto, for whom I suspect art is nothing more than bourgeois intellectual amusement.

 

Michael A. Giaquinto

From: George Slone
Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2019 8:50 AM
To: exhibit@ccmoa.org <exhibit@ccmoa.org>
Cc: benton@ccmoa.org <benton@ccmoa.org>
Subject: The great artist taboo: thou shalt not bite the hand that feeds...

To Michael A. Giaquinto, Exhibitions Curator, Cape Cod Museum of Art:

An Art Exhibit Proposal: “The Hand That Feeds.” To criticize the hand that feeds, or potentially can feed, constitutes the prime taboo of artists (and poets and writers) today, one that most of them cannot even contemplate as a possibility. Might that incapacity implicate clear cooptation and castration? Probably. As an artist, I’d like to see the art and literary/academic establishment open its hermetically-sealed doors to art (and poetry and writing) that hazards to criticize it. And indeed, in vain, I have tried prying open those doors, but have almost always encountered the same reaction, one of silence or ad hominem. It is as if art publishers, art editors, art museum curators, and artists possess extremely thin skin. I have knocked on the doors of both local and national establishments, including Cape Cod Art, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Cape Cod Art Center, Provincetown Arts, Fine Arts Work Center of Provincetown, Mid-Cape Cultural Council, the NEA, ALA, and on and on. Sturgis library was the only door that opened and allowed me in September 2011 to exhibit some of my establishment-critical “work.” Sadly, nine months later, its director permanently banned me without warning or due process, five days after I’d posted an open letter critical of its hypocrisy, in particular, with regards to its collection development statement: “libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view.” It rejected a free subscription to the nonprofit magazine I published and continue to publish. Today, my civil rights are being denied because I cannot attend any cultural or political events held at my neighborhood library.
Back in 2012, I contacted you, but you remained silent. Thus, I try again. The cartoon I drew back then illustrates your Achilles heel. Might you this time stand up, rather than engage in the typical silence of the sell-out lambs? I would like to exhibit critical cartoons and critical aquarelles, especially regarding the local art and literary establishment. I look forward to hearing from you.

.....................................

Cape Cod Museum of ArtThe cartoon on the right was sketched in 2012. Below is the correspondence I had with the museum director with its regard et al

 

From: George Slone <todslone@yahoo.com>
To: "cmfadirector@ccmoa.org" <cmfadirector@ccmoa.org>
Cc: "diradop@ccmoa.org" <diradop@ccmoa.org>; "education@ccmoa.org" <education@ccmoa.org>; "registrar@ccmoa.org" <registrar@ccmoa.org>; "provincetown-painters@ccmoa.org" <provincetown-painters@ccmoa.org>; "exhibit@ccmoa.org" <exhibit@ccmoa.org>; "finance@ccmoa.org" <finance@ccmoa.org>; "events@ccmoa.org" <events@ccmoa.org>
Sent: Monday, September 5, 2011 10:26 AM
Subject: Criticism
To Elizabeth Ives Hunter, Executive Director, and Hrant R. Russian, President of the Board of Trustees
Cape Cod Museum of Art:
Your statements in the Cape Cod Museum of Art brochure are vacuous and self-congratulating. Does not art deserve more than the smiley-face vacuity of politicians? What are “outstanding artists”? Should our nation’s youth simply open wide and swallow without ever questioning and challenging such terms? Can an artist, who questions and challenges the art community, as I do here, actually rise to become one of your“outstanding artists”? Thus, we finally begin to define the term. What does “operating for the benefit of the public” imply? Who in fact is the “public”? Is it exclusively formed by the herds of obedient sheep who open wide and swallow? By criticizing you, am I still part of that“public”? Or has that automatically rendered me part of the silencED minority? What does “held in trust for the public” mean? As an individual thinker and artist, I’d be much more interested in art that is not “held in trust for the public” by art gatekeepers.
From my experience with art and literary gatekeepers, it is likely you will not understand anything written in this email, whose real purpose is to make a statement for the public record. Here’s several questions for you: Why do art managers on the Cape always seem to wear the tie and jacket? Is it not odd that art seems to be paired with the bourgeois game of golf today, as in your Friends of the Cape Cod Museum Golf Tournament? Should not art be more than paintings of hydrangeas, boats, lobster shacks, nudes, and seascapes? It seems that you willingly participate in the widespread banality, subservience, and castration of art today. Why do you tend to support subservient and castrated artists? Well, I certainly know the answer… and so do the apparatchiks at the local Chamber of Commerce.
BTW, you might wish to view my art exhibit this month at Sturgis Library. Somehow, I managed to get Lucy Loomis to open her doors, even after she’d expressly mentioned they’d be closed if I included a watercolor critical of her in the proposed exhibit. Please do respond. I have a passion for vigorous debate, cornerstone of democracy.
Thank you for your attention.

G. Tod Slone, PhD and Founding Editor (since 1998)

[No response]

 

From: George Slone <todslone@yahoo.com>
To: "cmfadirector@ccmoa.org" <cmfadirector@ccmoa.org>
Cc: "diradop@ccmoa.org" <diradop@ccmoa.org>; "education@ccmoa.org" <education@ccmoa.org>; "registrar@ccmoa.org" <registrar@ccmoa.org>; "provincetown-painters@ccmoa.org" <provincetown-painters@ccmoa.org>; "exhibit@ccmoa.org" <exhibit@ccmoa.org>; "finance@ccmoa.org" <finance@ccmoa.org>; "events@ccmoa.org" <events@ccmoa.org>
Sent: Monday, September 5, 2011 10:26 AM
Subject: Criticism
To Elizabeth Ives Hunter, Executive Director, and Hrant R. Russian, President of the Board of Trustees
Cape Cod Museum of Art:
Your statements in the Cape Cod Museum of Art brochure are vacuous and self-congratulating. Does not art deserve more than the smiley-face vacuity of politicians? What are “outstanding artists”? Should our nation’s youth simply open wide and swallow without ever questioning and challenging such terms? Can an artist, who questions and challenges the art community, as I do here, actually rise to become one of your“outstanding artists”? Thus, we finally begin to define the term. What does “operating for the benefit of the public” imply? Who in fact is the “public”? Is it exclusively formed by the herds of obedient sheep who open wide and swallow? By criticizing you, am I still part of that“public”? Or has that automatically rendered me part of the silencED minority? What does “held in trust for the public” mean? As an individual thinker and artist, I’d be much more interested in art that is not “held in trust for the public” by art gatekeepers.
From my experience with art and literary gatekeepers, it is likely you will not understand anything written in this email, whose real purpose is to make a statement for the public record. Here’s several questions for you: Why do art managers on the Cape always seem to wear the tie and jacket? Is it not odd that art seems to be paired with the bourgeois game of golf today, as in your Friends of the Cape Cod Museum Golf Tournament? Should not art be more than paintings of hydrangeas, boats, lobster shacks, nudes, and seascapes? It seems that you willingly participate in the widespread banality, subservience, and castration of art today. Why do you tend to support subservient and castrated artists? Well, I certainly know the answer… and so do the apparatchiks at the local Chamber of Commerce.
BTW, you might wish to view my art exhibit this month at Sturgis Library. Somehow, I managed to get Lucy Loomis to open her doors, even after she’d expressly mentioned they’d be closed if I included a watercolor critical of her in the proposed exhibit. Please do respond. I have a passion for vigorous debate, cornerstone of democracy.
Thank you for your attention.
G. Tod Slone, PhD and Founding Editor (since 1998)

 

From: Liz Hunter <cmfadirector@ccmoa.org>
To: George Slone <todslone@yahoo.com>; exhibit@ccmoa.org
Cc: education@ccmoa.org; Hank Russian <hrussian@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 11:48 AM
Subject: Re:


Love the cartoon! Speaking for myself, I find you caught the spirit of my look perfectly - you could have done Hank's mustache better I think.
I do get behind on the e-mails sometimes and beg your forgiveness, or if that won't work, how about understanding?
I'll check the websites you list and maybe we can have a conversation - face to face or by e-mail. Which suits you best?
Regards,
Liz
Elizabeth Ives Hunter
Executive Director
Cape Cod Museum of Art
P. O. Box 2034
Dennis, MA 02638
60 Hope Lane
Dennis, MA 02638-5034
WWW.CCMOA.ORG

From: George Slone <todslone@yahoo.com>
To: Liz Hunter <cmfadirector@ccmoa.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 1:33 PM
Subject: Re:

Hi Liz,
Thanks much for the response!My purpose is not to offend, but rather to question and challenge, though that in itself might offend.It is my firm belief that the art machine should at least keep its doors open to the dissident spirit, rather than hermetically closed.I am a fervent believer in democracy and am sad to observe how free expression is being systematically shunned by the nation’s colleges, universities, publishers, artists, and literati. Actually, I’m usually quite polite in person, though my written verb can be scathing… but always in an attempt to stay on the line of truth.BTW, I have cartooned others on the Cape.Hope to hear from you regarding the possibility of a cartoon or satirical sketch show at the museum.Let us not forget the likes of Daumier and Nash.
Best,
G. Tod Slone, PhD and Founding Editor (1998)

[No further response received. I guess the director is a true believer in vigorous debate, democracy's cornerstone]


From: todslone@homail.com
To: cmfadirector@ccmoa.org; diradop@ccmoa.org; education@ccmoa.org; registrar@ccmoa.org; provincetown-painters@ccmoa.org; exhibit@ccmoa.org; finance@ccmoa.org; events@ccmoa.org
CC: sturgislibrary@comcast.net; info@artsfoundation.org
Subject: Cape Cod Art Museum featured in this week's American Dissident blog entry
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2012 12:51:20 -0400


The Cape Cod Art Museum is featured in this week's American Dissident blog entry. Check it out: http://wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com/2012/09/hrant-r-russian.html. Post a comment... in the name of vigorous debate and free expression, democracy's cornerstones. Or remain silent... and prove the point made in the blog. BTW, Lucy Loomis permanently trespassed me w/o warning or due process from Sturgis Library for having written criticism of her and the library system. Is that democracy in action on Cape Cod? You bet! Do you care? I didn't think so...
Sincerely,
G. Tod Slone, PhD and Founding Editor (1998)

[No response]