THE PUBLIC MIND: SUPPORT EXPRESSED FOR THE ARTS COUNCIL

To the Editor:

In response to the May 8 article in the Southeast Missourian regarding the SEMO Council on the Arts' refusal to display drawings of nude children, I wish to express my support for the Council.

Whether it be the obligation or the prerogative of any community-sponsored art organization, they do, in fact, have the right to choose what they present in their gallery to the public they are serving. I think the public feels that art should attempt to make a positive contribution to American ideals, which will then create an exhibit of aesthetically pleasing content.

The SEMO Council on the Arts, in this case, is refusing works that violate our higher standards of decency and morality in our community. Over-emphasis on nudity, whether in children, women, or men, is not only unnecessary in artistic expression, but is opposed to the moral teachings of all religions.

When in our free society we actively engage those persons to represent our country in the world political arena, we insist on moral uprightness/integrity in that representation.

In our churches, in our schools, those who represent or give voice to these organizations or groups must meet with community standards of decency.

Does an art group, graciously allowed to show their work in a community art gallery, have the audacity to claim their interpretation of an artistic endeavor is exempt from the principles and standards in which all others adhere? Our constitutional right to freedom of expression was not intended to violate our right to privacy, either personally or collectively. For too long, sad to say, artists, by their own decision, have set standards for visual expressions.

All instructors of impressionable youth have a responsibility to help teach students better ideas of expression than to produce drawings of a like nature to objectionable advertising.

Our own state university also has the same obligations and responsibilities of teaching in a manner that will encourage a respect from the public in viewing higher education artistic achievement.

F. Mark Burnett

Cape Girardeau