From the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com
Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Tumult Ends New Mexico Hearing on Virgin Picture
By LESLIE HOFFMAN, Reuters
Reuters/Variety
Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times
SANTA FE, N.M.--An angry crowd upset over an
artwork depicting the Virgin Mary in a bikini forced New Mexico state museum
officials to postpone a hearing called Wednesday to address Catholic-led protests
over the image.
Tempers flared and officials said they feared violence after a larger-than-expected
crowd of about 800 people showed up for a public hearing by the Museum of
New Mexico board of regents. The crowd was too large for the venue, leaving
more than 300 outside chanting "cancel the meeting."
The hearing was called because of mounting protests
by Catholic activists and the archbishop of Santa Fe over the artwork "Our
Lady," a digital collage depicting the Virgin Mary in a floral bikini
held aloft by a bare-breasted female angel.
The work is being exhibited as part of a show
in the Museum of International Folk Art. Critics say the picture is anti-Catholic
and portrays the Virgin Mary as a pin-up girl, but California artist Alma
Lopez says the image depicts the Virgin Mary as a strong, modern woman.
About 450 people jammed the auditorium of Santa Fe's Museum of Native American
Arts and Culture for the hearing, but more than 300 were left in a courtyard
outside chanting in protest. The board called off the meeting about half an
hour after it started when police told officials they feared possible violence
by the people outside.
"EMERGENCY SITUATION"
"We have an emergency situation," Toby Lynn Herzlich, one of two
professional mediators hired to run the meeting, said as the chants grew louder.
"People are threatening unsafe activities outside and this is something
we cannot allow."
Police lined both sides of the courtyard outside the museum's entrance where
most of the overflow crowd stood. Most of those outside appeared to be critics
of the picture. Many shouted for its removal and others carried traditional
images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a venerated depiction of the Virgin Mary
as she reputedly appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century.
"Our Lady" is styled after the Virgin of Guadalupe. Its creator,
Lopez, read a statement to reporters that she had planned to present at the
hearing, arguing that removing the picture would be censorship and that it
is an artwork in a museum, not a sacred object in a church.
"What happens to the rights of artists and curators to create an exhibit
without censorship? ... It scares me to see so many people organized against
me and attacking me," she said. Catholic activist Henry J. Casso rejected
talk of censorship. "It's not about First Amendment (free speech) issues.
It's about a sacred image," he said.
The state board of regents has not indicated that it will vote on calls for
the picture to be removed, just that it wants to hear the rival views. Museum
officials said the public hearing would probably be rescheduled for sometime
next week in a larger venue.