Temecula officials remain mum about removal of nude portrait from The Merc
Jeff Hebron was notified in December that his oil portrait of a nude had been accepted into the Visual Expressions exhibit.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Temecula officials continue to say little about the circumstances surrounding the removal of a nude painting from an exhibit at a city-owned gallery, even as questions remain about why the artwork was pulled from the exhibit.
The removal of Jeff Hebron’s painting has raised First Amendment concerns prompting attention from the National Coalition Against Censorship, which sent a Feb. 16 letter to Temecula City Manager Shawn Nelson expressing its concerns about censorship.
“This letter comes as a complete surprise to us. We were not aware that there was a controversy regarding this issue. We will evaluate the letter and its statements, and any action the City should take, if any, regarding this issue,” according to a statement released Friday afternoon by Assistant City Manager Aaron Adams.
The statement is similar to those made by other city officials since the controversy started.
Reached by telephone Friday afternoon, Adams said he would not make any further statements, nor would he say whether any city official ordered Hebron’s painting removed from the “Visual Expressions 2010” exhibit.
Hebron was notified in December that his oil portrait of a nude had been accepted into the Visual Expressions exhibit. Visual Expressions, which runs through Sunday, is a juried show, and is a collaboration of The Merc curator, artists, and The City of Temecula, according to Sissi Hale, Visual Expressions exhibit chairwoman, who has publicly stated that she did not pull the painting from the show.
Hebron was notified of his painting’s removal during a Jan. 22 Visual Expressions artists’ reception at The Merc.
Svetlana Mintcheva, director of programs for the National Coalition Against Censorship, said there was an “oral request” that came from city management to remove the painting because it depicted nudity.
“Yes, it’s a city-owned space, and yes a huge variety of people visit it, but there is nothing in that nude that would make it inappropriate,” she said via telephone Friday afternoon.
“I find it interesting that our letter was a surprise to them [the city], since they ordered the painting removed,” Mintcheva said.
Mintcheva said a private gallery can “choose and censor,” but censorship cannot take place in a public space.
“Unless it is obscene, it can’t be censored,” she said. “Clearly, the painting is not obscene.”
In the National Coalition letter to the city, which Mintcheva signed, several legal cases regarding nude depictions in public spaces were referenced.
“As the Supreme Court has noted multiple times, `nudity alone’ does not place otherwise protected material outside the mantle of the First Amendment,” the letter stated.
Beverly Thordarson, a Fallbrook artist who had one painting exhibited at Visual Expressions, said the removal of Hebron’s work was “ridiculous.”
She was at the Jan. 22 reception and saw Hebron walking out of the venue with his covered portrait in-hand. She spoke with him briefly regarding the removal of his work from the exhibit.
“The portrait was removed from the reception before anyone arrived,” Thordarson said, recounting her conversation with Hebron. “The painting was up in the attic so no one would see it.”
During the reception, Thordarson said she considered taking her painting out of the exhibit in protest of the removal of Hebron’s work. She tried to marshal other artists to join with her, but said she was unsuccessful.
Thordarson’s disappointment over the removal of Hebron’s work prompted her to write a letter to her local newspaper, in which she expressed dismay regarding the censoring of artwork. The letter was published by the newspaper and read by officials with the National Coalition, igniting the organization’s involvement in the issue.
Related Stories: Temecula artist requests apology over artwork removal; Temecula officials criticized for censorship
Toni McAllister is SWRNN’s lifestyles editor. She can be reached at toni.mcallister@yahoo.com.
Kerri S. Mabee, SWRNN’s A&E editor, contributed to this report. She can be reached at ksmabee.swrnn@gmail.com.
Tags: Beverly Thordarson, Fallbrook, Jeff Hebron, Kerri S. Mabee, National Coalition against Censorship, Sissi Hale, Svetlana Mintcheva, SWRNN, Temecula, Temecula City Manager Shawn Nelson, The Merc, Toni McAllister
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