Artist removes ‘racist’ artwork from Arkansas school after student outcry – ARTnews.com

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An exhibit at an art space at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville was briefly the subject of controversy earlier this month when students at the school decried a piece of work from the show, calling it racist. After planning a protest, the artist removed the work from display, but at least one national nonprofit called the school’s response unsatisfactory.

The artwork in the exhibit, a 2023 piece titled Klan Bride, featured an arched figure wearing a Klan hood; The school’s African American Student Association (AASA) said the work “perpetuates racist narratives through harmful symbols.” The artist behind the artwork, Dominique Simmons, did not respond to a request for comment. Several publications have reported that Simmons is white, although this has not been confirmed.

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The exhibit page for his show at Arkansas Tech has been removed, and there is no record of his show currently available on the Norman Hall Art Gallery website, where the show was held. Attempts to reach the gallery were unsuccessful, and a school spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The AASA released a statement from Simmons in which she said that as a “child of the South” she seeks to “abhor evil and revel in the good found in our history.” (Racism is bad, but southern music and literature is good.)”

Jace Bridges, president of the AASA, told ARTnews that the work left him and others uncomfortable, including because the work was on display near the desk of the only black female professor in the school art department.

“It was like a slap, not one that surprised us, but it felt like you could have tried to do better,” he said in a phone conversation. “It showed how much they cared about the students, in the sense that our feelings weren’t even part of the equation. There was no consideration for the mental health of the students or for how they felt.

As the outcry mounted, Robin E. Bowen, president of the university, defended Simmons’ art in a statement to students, saying, “Arkansas Tech University provides social mobility for its students and is a powerful economic engine for the state. We also serve to develop an educated population to support our nation’s democracy. As such, we are committed to protecting First Amendment rights. This includes the protection of artistic expression as well as freedom of expression.

The AASA had begun promoting an action that was to take place on January 16 to coincide with Martin Luther King, Jr. Then, on January 14, the association announced that Simmons had made the decision to retire her job herself. According to Bridges, Simmons had planned to meet with the AASA, but once she pulled her job, she never ended up doing it.

Bridges considered the decision a victory, but also said, “The university still hasn’t recognized us as a student body and there has been no apology.”

Not everyone viewed the events at Arkansas Tech as inherently positive.

Shortly after the AASA announced Simmons’ decision, PEN America, a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote free speech in the United States, expressed concern about the evolution of the situation.

“While we don’t know what caused the artist to withdraw her work, we are disappointed that the closing of the exhibition seems to have happened so easily, with little chance of a serious engagement with her”, said Kristen Shahverdian, senior director of the Freedom of Expression and Education Program at PEN America, in a statement. “It deprives all students and stakeholders on campus of the opportunity to see this art and tackle it.

“We hope that the artist will not be discouraged in her work and that the university will take this opportunity to facilitate the conversation about it and the response it has generated,” she continued. “How can we accommodate America’s history of racism and racial violence if our institutions shut down opportunities to use the arts for public engagement?”

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