Everyone has a "Cincinnati" story. Discussions with colleagues from other cities. Casual conversations while waiting for an airport shuttle bus. It goes something like this: "So you're from Cincinnati? Oh yeah, Mapplethorpe. Tough town, isn't it?"
It's been 10 years since the political war over the Contem-porary Arts Center (CAC) photo exhibit, and for many people, Mapplethorpe remains Cincinnati's defining cultural symbol.
Mapplethorpe has popped up frequently in recent CityBeat conversations. A cover story looking back at the CAC exhibit hits the streets next week. It'is bound to raise some questions. Is Mapplethorpe a dead topic, not worthy of further discussion? Have we learned any lessons? Has Cincinnati changed over these past 10 years?
Local artist and founder of Campaign Against Censorship in the Arts, Bill Messer asks such questions on a regular basis. They're the topic of a March 25-26 arts censorship symposium he's organized at downtown's Omni Netherland hotel. Talking about Mapplethorpe has become a personal crusade for Messer. He's the boy who cried censorship. While people who know Messer might take issue with his obvious eccentricities, there's is no doubting the validity of his anti-censorship message.
No symposium has the power to change Cincinnati. That's up to individual artists and their work. Of course, someone like Congressman Steve Chabot will tell you that "controversial" art has the power to destroy society. It takes us back to oft-repeated questions: Is the Queen City a supportive place for artists? How many artists have left Cincinnati, frustrated by our conservative climate? Has Cincinnati changed since the days of Mapplethorpe?
The Enquirer prints editorials slamming the Brooklyn Museum of Art's fall 1999 exhibit, Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, and advocates arts vandalism. It hurts when the major paper in town pairs lackluster arts coverage with an editorial voice so ultra-conservative that it routinely stands against artistic freedom. But even more than that, I am puzzled by the lack of public outrage expressed by local artists, arts supporters and arts administrators. Maybe Cincinnati hasn't changed much after all.
Cincinnati, true to its conservative Midwestern roots, exchanges New York City Mayor Giuliani's political bullying against the Brooklyn Museum with calm, collected back-room politics, courtesy of "Uncle" Carl Lindner and the business-powers-that-be. There are fumbling attempts to define art by moral and political standards by Citizens for Community Values doofus Phil Burress. Cincinnati continues to possess its share of ultraconservative forces. It's disappointing that a city proud of its long-standing cultural institutions allows CCV and others to be a force.
Here at CityBeat, where in-depth arts coverage is our trademark, we try to remember that the arts are about more than entertainment choices. Art can raise us to a higher place and make us better people.
But artists aren't meant to be political leaders. Theirs are creative decisions. It's up to political leaders, educators and media to support this freedom of expression.
There are worse things one can do than sit in a downtown hotel and listen to Cincinnati attorney H. Louis Sirkin reflect on his role as co-counsel for the CAC in its criminal obscenity trial for Mapplethorpe. Perhaps Sirkin's words will inspire others to take a more activist role. Current CAC Director Charles Desmarais plans to offer symposium guests a museum tour. It would be an opportune time to ask him why the CAC has chosen to ignore the 10th anniversary of the Mapplethorpe decision.
Of course, action speaks louder than words. Local playwright Michael Blankenship, a pro-Mapplethorpe activist and actor in Brad Fraser's controversial Poor Superman staged at Ensemble Theatre a few years back, is preparing a summer production documenting the gay history of Cincinnati. If he's lucky, the show will receive plenty of publicity. Blankenship understands that art itself keeps the censorship debate alive. Because it will take bold artistic statements to insure that Cincinnati is no longer Censorship city.
