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Kennesaw State University, under fire for removing an art installation because it would not have been "celebratory" at the opening of a new museum, on Wednesday issued a new statement about its views on the issue. The art that was removed dealt with a woman whose land the university obtained and whose writing have led many to call her an apologist for lynching. The art installation did not focus solely on this issue, but included it among many parts of the woman's story.
The new university statement said: "The exhibit does not exist in a vacuum; it is connected to a sensitive controversy in Kennesaw State’s recent past, which remains extremely raw for many university constituents.Given that the opening of the Zuckerman Museum of Art was intended to be a celebration of new space dedicated to the arts, withdrawing the exhibition was a difficult decision that we knew would not be well received – and one which was unfortunate due to the administration’s late knowledge of the subject matter. This was the result of communications breakdowns in our internal processes, which are being addressed." The statement added that the university is "holding conversations with the artist to explore re-instating" the artwork, "accompanied by related programming."
The artist is Ruth Stanford, associate professor of sculpture at Georgia State University. She said Wednesday that the university called her to talk about restoring the installation "with context," but has yet to provide details on what that means.
