Art Institute Draws Claims of Censorship - Los Angeles Times

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Art institute draws claims of censorship - Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-censored8jan08,1,2651599,full...

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advertisement Art institute draws claims of censorship HOME MyLAT imes Was a student magazine pulled because of a story on racial stereotypes in videogames or for other reasons? It depends on who paints the picture. Site Map By Francisco Vara-Orta, Times Staff Writer California/Local January 8, 2007 Los Angeles Orange County Simone Mitchell enrolled in the Art Institute of California at San Francisco hoping to catch S.F. Valley attention with his visual art, but it was his writing, contained in an essay about racial Ventura County Inland Empire stereotypes in video games, that catapulted a small in-class short story to the front lines of Columnists debate on the timeless "what is art?" question. Steve Lopez Patt Morrison Mitchell wrote the 10-page spread for Mute/Off, a small magazine produced as part of a George Skelton cultural studies class. The school pulled the magazine from circulation Dec. 6, hours after Dana Parsons it was distributed, saying it hadn't been approved by the administration. Steve Harvey Community Papers Soon after the cultural studies teacher, Robert Ovetz, protested the administration's Burbank Leader actions, he was told not to come back for the next semester. Students and Ovetz say it Newport Beach was the latest in a pattern of recent censorship tactics, an allegation the school declines to Laguna Beach discuss. More California News Huntington Beach GlendaleNational Mitchell's essay, titled "Homicide," centers on three African American males who address - Nature reclaims Yosemite route NEWS each other in vulgar street slang and go on a rape and killing spree. At the story's end, it's - Gov. to seek cuts in aid to families on welfare California | Local revealed that they are characters in a video game played by three white suburban boys. - LAX plan could increase number of flights National World "There are so many stereotypes in games, of African Americans as thugs, for example," Entertainment News said Mitchell, a video game art and design student who is African American. "Video Most Viewed Most E-mailed Related News gamers are exposed to this kind of violence and offensive language all the time and need Business - Foul play ruled out in Danelo's death Sports to think about what they are doing." - Money clashes with mission Politics Opinion Ovetz, who has taught at the institute part time for three years, said that when his class - Lakers' cast shows character Columnists reconvened the week after Mute/Off was published, students recounted how - Jackson takes recent play over No. 900 Print Edition administrators had confiscated as many of the magazine's 500 copies as they could find. - Reports link Carroll, Dolphins

Calendarlive "The library was told they couldn't even have a copy for its archives," Ovetz said. "I was T ravel shocked. How could this happen at an art institute?" West Magazine advertisement House & Garden A spokeswoman for the institute, Gigi Gallinger-Dennis, said the administration withdrew Health the magazine because it contained "potentially defamatory journalism" and didn't undergo Food the review process before distribution. L.A. Wheels Obituaries She wouldn't confirm whether Mitchell's essay caused the removal, as Ovetz contends. Crossword, Sudoku She said the institute's concerns included the use of corporate insignias in an illustration All Sections within the magazine. Corrections The work was a collage of corporate logos overlaid with the words "Organized Crime." BUY, SELL & MORE Among the logos was that of Goldman Sachs, which in 2006 bought the 1,600-student, Jobs private for-profit school. Cars Real Estate Ovetz sent e-mails protesting the administration's action, and on Dec. 19 received an Apartments e-mail from Caren Meghreblian, dean of academic affairs, who did not mention Marshall Personals by name but said one piece in the magazine was "racially offensive." Deals at Local Stores The e-mail also said that "unprofessional and ungrammatical work" in the magazine "does Coupons not represent the school well" and that the use of logos might be considered a copyright Newspaper Ads violation. It is the school's mission, she wrote, to "guide and protect our students and our PLACE AN AD school."

MEMBER SERVICES The next day, Ovetz said, the institute told him not to return to teach a class in world Log Out conflict this winter. Help Contact Us Gallinger-Dennis wouldn't comment on Ovetz's departure but said, "No faculty nor L.A. Times Archives students were given sanctions as a result of the content or circulation of this magazine." Customized News E-mail Newsletters The withdrawal of the magazine is the latest in a series of debates over artwork at the HOME DELIVERY school. Customer Support Subscribe to L.A. Last quarter, at an exhibition on taboos, administrators removed a student photograph that T imes showed a condom and a fluid on a plate with a piece of toast, an incident Gallinger-Dennis confirmed.

LOCAL ADS Buy a link Steve Kick, a video game and art design student, said one of his sculptures inspired by space aliens was removed from a gallery after complaints that it looked like a vagina.

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"At first I let it slide, but after hearing about other instances lately, I realized it's a pattern," Rock Your Locks! said Kick, 21. "I can see where [the administration] is coming from, but I still take issue The most precious with the censorship. That's counterproductive to why we decided to attend an art school." diamond ever... created from the carbon in your Gallinger-Dennis declined to comment, but defended school policies on prohibiting certain hair artwork if the administration deems it "not professional" or "offensive to others." LifeGem.com Media coverage of the incident has generated discussions at art schools around the country and captured the attention of free speech groups. Greg Lukianoff, president of the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said that although he's used to hearing of censorship of students and faculty at public and private colleges, he's surprised that an art institute would retract work created by students.

"Art is supposed to provoke and make people think, and as an art institute, especially in a city like San Francisco, they should seriously consider the commitment to their mission," said Lukianoff, whose nonprofit watchdog group monitors censorship issues. "If anywhere should encourage free speech, it should be an art institution."

Bill Barrett, executive director of the San Francisco-based Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, said that after what he's seen in his 36 years of working with art students, Mitchell's essay didn't strike him as offensive.

"I think the institution shot itself in the foot," Barrett said. "Now they have all this negative attention on them when that is what they probably least wanted."

In an unusual coda to the dispute, the magazine will be distributed. Gallinger-Dennis said the magazine will be released within the next few weeks, as it has passed through all the review channels at the institution.

Kick said students may find closure in the magazine's distribution, but he still feels that as an artist he needs to remain guarded when selecting subject matter at the institute.

Mitchell, who is transferring to study illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for unrelated reasons, said the debate has vividly demonstrated the power, and the responsibility, of art.

"It's kind of lit my fire," said Mitchell. "The whole point of being an artist is to express yourself and hope it connects with others in some way, whether for good or bad."

Mitchell, who has wanted to be a comic book illustrator, now says he'd like to be a writer too.

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