Complaints About Exhibit Don’t
Faze Kansas Library
Despite some complaints about an art exhibit featuring a ripped and burned American flag and a $2 bill in pieces, the Kansas City (Kans.) Public Library is continuing to display the items.
Kansas City artist Harold Smith created the artwork in the library show titled “Red, White, and Black,” depicting his view of the African experience in America. Before its March 13 opening the exhibit drew a news crew from local KMBC-TV. The station aired a story and posted a March 12 article to its Web site, stating that the flag and money were upsetting people.
Sarah Bohndorf, the library’s arts and humanities librarian who supervises the exhibits, told American Libraries the items will remain on display until the show’s scheduled April 8 closing. She said three patrons had complained, including one whose request for removal of the art will go before a standing committee that hears concerns about library materials.
Smith expressed surprise to KMBC about the complaints, characterizing his work as a view of American life “fragmented with problems.” Bohndorf told the reporter, “It’s wrong for us to say, ‘All right, you can show your flowers and your landscape and your pictures, but you can’t show anything that might make someone feel uncomfortable.’ ”
Posted March 19, 2001.
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