Attack on local art uncalled for
\nBy James T. Mathis
\nSioux Falls
\nPublished: June 8, 2007<\/p>\n
Scott Ehrisman continues to use letters to the editor to complain about the so-called secrecy in the Sioux Falls art community. Now he has personally attacked Paul Schiller, and that is just plain wrong.<\/p>\n
Schiller has been a longtime supporter of the arts in South Dakota, volunteering his time on boards, donating his company’s services and making his own financial contributions. On top of that, he has made a name for himself as one of the areas most popular visual artists. Guardian of secrecy is not on his curriculum vitae.<\/p>\n
Before Ehrisman attacks me, let me make a few things clear.
\nI support the Washington Pavilion, SculptureWalk, the Sioux Empire Arts Council, local artists and other arts organizations, but I do not sit on any of their boards. I have not been a part of the juries for these events. I support the arts because I think it is good for our community.<\/p>\n
In defense of the Arts Night at the Pavilion and SculptureWalk, there is good reason to insist that these events be juried – whether the goal is art for public enjoyment or to raise money. The quality of the art speaks volumes about the program. A good jury can make the difference between an art exhibit and a craft show.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the Arts Night Event is an auction. Have you ever been involved with a fundraising auction? There are many factors to be considered. How much space is available to display the work? How many buyers can the space accommodate? In auctions I have worked at in the past, I have seen that more items for sale does not equate to more money raised; it just lowers the amount raised per piece.<\/p>\n
Finally, in the letter, Ehrisman claims that the idea of artists retaliating against jurors “is hogwash,” but his personal
\nattack on Schiller is just that: retaliation.<\/p>\n
The beauty of art is that it is subjective. That is the nature
\nof the beast. Rather than condemning the juries as biased or secretive, I think they should be congratulated for choosing work with such great diversity.<\/p>\n
Our little city has a vibrant arts scene. For that we can all be proud.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
MY RESPONSE:<\/p>\n
Mr. James (Jim) Mathis,<\/p>\n
I enjoyed your letter to the editor, I also enjoyed all the assumptions you made. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get into that later.<\/p>\n
First I want to say why did you fail to mention that you own ADWERKS advertising agency and are member of the SD AD Federation? I guess the best way to get to the top of the ladder is to aspire to be the ones at the top of that ladder. Or another words, birds of a feather flock together.<\/p>\n
But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s look at your letter.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Scott Ehrisman continues to use letters to the editor to complain about the so-called secrecy in the Sioux Falls art community. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n
The jurors names are still a secret. So I am unsure of what you mean by \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcso-called\u00e2\u20ac\u2122?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now he has personally attacked Paul Schiller, and that is just plain wrong.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
What is wrong is the personal attack on the 34 artists that were rejected from Arts Night this year. Many of them contacted me. Some are nationally known and award winning artists. If you want to reject someone from a juried show, fine, but be honest about who you are and why you did so.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Schiller has been a longtime supporter of the arts in South Dakota, volunteering his time on boards, donating his company’s services and making his own financial contributions.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
You say this like I have contributed nothing. I will put my artistic contributions up against Mr. Schiller\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s any day of the week. I am a sponsor and supporter of SFJB Society and JazzFest one of the few non-profit art organizations that actually pays local artists to perform at JazzFest, JAM events and educate area youth through the Jazz Diversity project. I also have dedicated hours upon hours of my own time helping to market and promote local visual artists and musicians. By supporting local artists, you are supporting local art, because they create it. Organizations like the Washington Pavilion and SW, cannot do it on there own.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153On top of that, he has made a name for himself as one of the areas most popular visual artists.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
According to who? Paul Schiller? I am known as a SD cartoonist that has been featured in newspapers across the state, and my art has been in several regional and national exhibits. My work is featured on many political websites. I have also worked in the graphic design field for 13 years. But what does that have to do with the argument?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Guardian of secrecy is not on his curriculum vitae.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Then why not release the names of the jurors?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before Ehrisman attacks me, let me make a few things clear. I support the Washington Pavilion, SculptureWalk, the Sioux Empire Arts Council, local artists and other arts organizations, but I do not sit on any of their boards. I have not been a part of the juries for these events. I support the arts because I think it is good for our community.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
You are right, arts are good for our community, if they are pursued with honesty and integrity.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In defense of the Arts Night at the Pavilion and SculptureWalk, there is good reason to insist that these events be juried – whether the goal is art for public enjoyment or to raise money. The quality of the art speaks volumes about the program. A good jury can make the difference between an art exhibit and a craft show.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I said in both of my letters that I am not opposed to a jury show, yet you and Paul continue to bring that up.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m opposed to the secrecy of the jury, and the rejection of a donation. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how much clearer I can be?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Additionally, the Arts Night Event is an auction. Have you ever been involved with a fund-raising auction? There are many factors to be considered. How much space is available to display the work? How many buyers can the space accommodate? In auctions I have worked at in the past, I have seen that more items for sale does not equate to more money raised; it just lowers the amount raised per piece.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I have sat on the Arts Night planning committee. I have also worked for the Washington Pavilion and have had an exhibit in their gallery . . . I do understand.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Finally, in the letter, Ehrisman claims that the idea of artists retaliating against jurors “is hogwash,” but his personal attack on Schiller is just that: retaliation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Do you know something that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know? How can I retaliate against Schiller as a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcjuror\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 if those names haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been released yet? You must know something I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The beauty of art is that it is subjective. That is the nature of the beast. Rather than condemning the juries as biased or secretive, I think they should be congratulated for choosing work with such great diversity.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about respect for the artist and the art to.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our little city has a vibrant arts scene. For that we can all be proud.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Maybe. But not because of Paul Schiller.<\/p>\n
According to the book “Ethics and the Visual Arts” (a book endorsed by the American Association of Museums) in regards to a code of ethics developed by one museum director\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s organization … “Artists who are trustees may not donate works of their own art to the permanent collection or\u00c2\u00a0 be considered for an exhibition of their work, either solo, group or juried.”<\/p>\n
FACT: Paul is a trustee
\nFACT: Paul has had an individual exhibit at the Washington Pavilion
\nFACT: Paul has donated art to the Pavilion
\nFACT: Paul continues to sell his work at the Pavilion in marketplace shows
\nAlso in this book . . . “Consultants who are trustees should not do paid work for the museum while serving on the board.”<\/p>\n
FACT: Paul Schiller’s company has done many ‘paid’ projects for the Washington Pavilion.<\/p>\n
If you want to argue with me about the integrity of Mr. Schiller, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m up for the fight. Several of the 34 rejected artists have contacted me and support this fight for honesty and integrity, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not in this corner by myself.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intend to lose this fight.
\n\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Attack on local art uncalled for By James T. Mathis Sioux Falls Published: June 8, 2007 Scott Ehrisman continues to use letters to the editor to complain about the so-called secrecy in the Sioux Falls art community. Now he has personally attacked Paul Schiller, and that is just plain wrong. Schiller has been a longtime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.25dp.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}