Unprofessional jealousy

Editor:

Professor Ronald V. Clayton's childish, schizoid criticism of Gary Lucy's riverboat art speaks volumes about Clayton's (un)professional jealousy of the merits of Lucy's work. Incredibly, Lucy is a product of Clayton's own university art department.

Just because Lucy's work lacks liberal snob appeal, it in no way detracts from his prolific and extraordinary talents and abilities that are very much appreciated and revered by those in the marketplace who actually matter the most: his many fans, supporters, and paying clients.

It matters not to professor Clayton that common "backwater" folks from Southeast Missouri can actually tell the difference between a kindergartner's finger paint scribbling and abstract art when professional New York art critics cannot. Source: CBS "60 Minutes."

The three artists who have done more to elevate the appreciation of the professional visual arts in Southeast Missouri include: Gary Lucy; university professor Paul Schock; and the red-hatted downtown Cape Girardeau mural artist from Chicago, Thomas Melvin.

Gary Lucy's riverboat "art" (that will be prominently displayed near the entrance to the new Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus Performing Arts Center) is entirely appropriate, no matter what the jealous, out-of-touch, professor Clayton thinks. Thankfully, professor Clayton is nearing retirement, which is where he needs to be.

If I were his boss, Clayton would have been fired in a heartbeat for his inappropriate comments about Gary Lucy's work.

ROBERT T. KRONE JR., Cape Girardeau