A note from our Artistic Director
Thank you for your interest in art, community and self expression.
As Artistic Director for Springboard Performance and containR, I believe that art can surprise, provoke, debate, offer beauty, elicit joy, build connection, interrogate, reveal, and represent multiple perspectives in society.
This is the possibility and power of art in community.
containR supports many kinds of art making, performance, and community connection. We believe that art can engage the community and build towards a vibrant society that knows that culture, innovation, and freedom of expression are important aspects of a healthy community.
In April 2021, Springboard commissioned two new murals for the containR site. Thumbnail sketches were provided by the artists and signed off on by the containR curator. One of the artists painted a mural beyond what was agreed upon in the thumbnail sketch and contract. This mural was removed from the containR site.
In the thumbnail proposal in question, a child sits in a beautiful garden with a mask blowing in the wind. From my perspective as the curator, this spoke to our transition out of the global pandemic where we find ourselves in a healthy place supported by a robust and verdant environment.
Art's meaning is of course in the eye of the beholder. Good art always leaves space for interpretation and reflection within the work.
When the artist painted the mural, they changed the proposal to include painting the mask as an eroding object - that one could interpret as a comment on masks themselves, and added text that is directly in line with the anti-mask community. With these changes, the mural was in breach of the agreed contract, no longer offered the chance for interpretation and instead aligned its message to one specific community, and shifted from artwork to propaganda.
While containR's curatorial mandate is to support art that reflects multiple perspectives, styles, aesthetics, narratives, and communities, ART SHOULD NOT DO HARM.
The mural's alignment with an anti-mask and anti-vaccination message in the midst of a global pandemic was ultimately deemed to be dangerous for the community, and as such the mural was painted over.
While the artist did offer to paint over the elements not inline with the proposal, given the history, I believe that this mural would always be known as the anti-mask mural.
Painting over the mural was not taken lightly.
I ask that you reflect on my opening statement. I believe that art can surprise, provoke, debate, offer beauty, elicit joy, build connection, interrogate, reveal, and represent multiple perspectives in society. But art and self expression should not do harm.
This work crossed this line, and moved outside a curatorial context that containR could support.
Art, community and self expression are important core issues to consider as a community - and I encourage folks to have these conversations with mutual respect and kindness, especially in a time of such great division and heightened tension in our community.
Best,
Nicole