| Show E2 THE ARTS Sunday September The Salt Lake Tribune REV'S CIT YVIEW 1j J t r IP '"' I -- ar - :i L - ) N ?( ?tii ::A yrz 0 - - ' 1'11 JACK GOODMAN 215I i i Nunemaker Place a hidden gem at Westminster a g 1- rii tA 4:: 1 - ' - - " — i c- 54"'"1L7:''''"-fl7' 0 i 0f "i- tl-- - ' ' 2e"A v 41 - f-- - :14 livz---- - --A ir§- - 41- center 'tSe't‘e't kr? T 474 i'-'f-"-- Hidden in a grove of sizable trees reached by a narrow footpath and footbridge across a flowing creek this modest concrete and shingled structure has never been given the acclaim it and its designers deserve The architects James Christopher and the late Martin Brixen received one modest pat on the back for their efforts: The ($300000) structure was named one of eight winners in the design contest sponsored that year by the Western Mountain Regional Conference of Architects - l"-- ?1 - T - v - :1 tl":--- T$1 -- - '51 47144 :'----: :- :::' -t' - - ': - - ‘ 10 : - ! 2L-z---- - - :I--- - - 1 be- - : : 7t le4c13 112-f:!:k 4 ':- F- -- I ? 0I - - --- r0 e7--''----- - I - ZLI '4411S11----- Pr'"Sn -1!14-t(-'- 27-r::-- ir41 t'471 r V :--r ::N ' r --- stri rir- - i - - i cast-ston- e pus center for the Westminster community and for civic groups Its small size and excellent acoustics have made it useful for weddings of students and receptions for distinguished visitors for chamber music and other recitals theatrical works for scenery-les- s religious services and quiet brown-shingle- d Brixen-Christoph- Approached from the bridge or when seen through the trees from most other more technicalangles the tower -- is its ly labeled a light scoopg feature From inside or out the scoop g opening atop the tall projection diffuses light natural illumination through the buildings interi - - - 0890wesomAr" - AKE4 - 0 - ?ttz4 vs i 4 i it te ! rt - sr- :i f - : - - C er -- - ::: - ' Jack Goodman has been free-lanc- e I fil t' - Zol : i ' - ' 1' 10111POOlAttlill 1111itAe10'kittlillit WYNTOM MARSALIS VICTOR BORCE It: PIMA CALL 355-ART- I VI:11Tie0 ! '''' i IMMT 1 minvoinviii - - - - 1 Bettin had worked out the solution to his artistic problem — how to use disabled guns to make an statement — more intuitively than intellectually And within his own cultural milieu his interpretation was just as valid as were those of his critics Some artists like Marcel intentionally misappropriated cultural icons to make Valid view practice of creating a new work by taking a image from another context — art history advertising the media — and combining that appropriated image with new ones" His definition provides no cautions culturally sensitive material Art critic Lucy R Lippard provides such cautions In Mixed Blessings: Nett Art in a Muliteutturd America she calls the practice of appropriation "image cannibalism" -- voyeurism at its most blatant" and Lippard is not alone in her concern about contemporary artists' -overt rampage through other cultures- - and and rearranging borrowed or stolen ready-madimages" from the Third World and art history Curators educators museum directors critics artists and ethnic leaders are scrambling to change the way they deal with multicultural issues After Nez explained Bettin's misinterpretation of the traditional use of the funeral platform he quickly added: But why doesn't he keep going?" He seems puzzled that Bettin isn't pursuing the issue further now that he has more information -rm affected in this case in two ways" as an artist and as an American Indian Nez said "Bettin is making a passionate social statement I want to give him my sympathy He roused people and that's what artists do I tend to want to defend him" To Plains Indians the burial platform has sacred status In a pluralistic society such images often take on more meanings than those given them by their originators or cultural guardians This is often the case when little or no information about such objects and their supporting philosophies or theologies is in the public domain Why was Pettin attracted to this image? Why did the project-reviepanel approve "Sacred Ground" without consideration of its culturally intended use? Perhaps one reason is that the burial platform is a powerful and immediately accessible image It has moved out of the exclusive ownership of the collective American Indian nation It suggests a sense of mourning of sadness Bettin captured those emotional qualities with -- Sacred Ground'' in making a statement about burying guns Bettin's unfamiliarity with the traditional purpose of the burial platform provided a degree of na pre-existi- ng -st- rip-mining" e' w anti-violen- Du-cha- provocative statements use of a ' its 1 OF NORM 1110uL celain urinal and other pormass-produce- mmo I amEm Wiisci Hours: 10am - 9pm ARM 571-555- woo TEE material as fine art changed the course of art history and notions of beauty He pioneered the art form that made Bettin's piece possible — assemblage Because of Duchamp and others of his circle an object is no longer frozen in the confines of its initially intended use A gun is no longer a gun A funeral platform is no longer a place just for the honored dead Is the removal of "Sacred Ground" a case of censorship? Nancy Boskoff doesnt think so and neither does Bettin "Ifs a case of poor communication between cultures" said Boskoff And it seems a rectifying act of cooperation to remove the piece from public view And where is it now? -- The piece is in storage" Bettin said "The best thing to do is dismantle it" Does the removal of "Sacred Ground- - mean that every time an artist uses imagery from other cultures in works intended for public display in Salt Lake City he or she needs to consult with spokespeople from those cultures? Should such a practice become a matter of policy when public art works are commissioned? What are the implications for free expression for artists? "If art concerns become less than primary" says Harriet F Seine in her book Conte7nporary Public Sculpture: Tradition Transformation and Controver-we end up with something that is not primarily art and that is to no one's best interest" Seine recommends using a committee of art professionals to select artists to provide works in public space She also recommends demystifying the selection process by keeping it open to the community "We need to open dialogue" Bettin said "If it doesn't happen it gets balled up and weird" sy Frank McEntire an artist and writer is The Salt Lake Tribune's art critic Mon-S- at 1 Watch for our new location coming soon r-6-- for $11 0 Stay at the State Line or Silver Smith in Wendover in a beautiful room midweek and play the 1 only $10 golf course with a cart - for While you are here enjoy the best buffets in Wendover FOR RESERVATIONS CALL -t 1 ' 4 - t ' t ' - ' s t AA-11- ' —owe r'lli : 2 for :' tTml ' 1 latzet)ver & MM!M2UM Photo Sion Z:" 14VC) per person And now you and a ays the hottest pictures are at Glamour for the prke if one That two luxurious 11131:t1n er‘ and friend can I in otirJothes or pm-ow'p to fiwir uardrot No 16- - poie photo Iezi ion bloaranteed Jost can us for an appointment changes eakh Fat n - airpurolpts - N"' HIGH FASHION PHOTOCRAPHI for enrollment information Please call (801) 521-333- 0 1994-95 or and a stop by our new facility catalogue 84111 ilA - - - ' ' LIT 1 i Nationally accredited through ACCET '16"ortrrox''" Financial aid available to those who cpalify 1 6 month day4ne or 1 year evening program UCNIT04) South 300 East Salt Lake City d I 5 TOP SCHOOLS AMINCOMTAA accredited Du-cham- ready-mad- e — NkkAa' ' am ygvgrtqpirvrwooffewrgl PI - & (the AMTA's Council On Massage Therapy Training Accreditation to in America North five schools of UCMT one Approval) making only achieve this level of external validation rqi:1 ilt 1 Offer Expires 971941 2 For 1 One More Week Only! The Utah Conege of Massage Therapy is now accredited by both ACCET the Accrediting Council for Contnuing Education & Trairtng) and COMTAA 'It) El '" ' challenging Toana Vista mom ' 1 Tr S f 1 't't40' t 1 1 OPIdat StrAPessions ! ktii414 t—d75-6- - iAtic : - EN 7 - ABRAVANEt HALL HALL Tickets at all Art Tiz outlets r ' 2 ' each "sale" dress OFF dromm 0 Gowns Redeem this coupon for an extra 1 IA : ) 1 Selected OFF it N ' - - from another culture especially when the imagery is sacred In his book ArtSpeak Robert Atkins says "Appropriation is the 3 Days tmim Only low — Tr Messy messages Bettin fell into the same trap that others even in big business with its mildollions of marketing-researclars have fallen into when taking their products to other cultures Some classic examples are General Motors Nova automobile which flopped in Mexico because va" in Spanish means "no -doesn't go" Gerber Baby Food wouldn't sell in Africa because containers of products there typically have a picture on the label showing what's inside Bettin and those who reviewed his proposal underestimated the risks involved when artists of one - :17:rrryttp ill) - c1 DOD h 1 Bridal Gowns on Sale Af A ts tax-doll- ar culture appropriate imagery assoTrib- ciated with The Salt Lake une as a staff or writer for more than 45 years - : :11 Is - ''' Personal note This columnist wishes to pass along his thanks to the many readers who sent letters cards flowers and even fruit to my bedside at the University of Utah Hospital in the wake of a sudden back operation Very special thanks to Doctors Tippets Call and Rothstein the surgeon neurologist and attending physician who saw to it that the very necessary trench excavated in my back was not misplaced Thanks likewise to the nurses of every category who swarmed to my aid in a manner over and above the call of duty The pain is all gone and I'm From the walking — slowly charts etc I viewed I am now well aware that the human skeleton is even more complex than any modern building fi : - iti:keLr------ I ‘ -- - 2 DOD - ABRAVAMEL 4 reA n 4 - -- Hudson River Valley camp for retarded youngsters in New York State an honors-cente- r building at the University of Kansas and a YWCA building to aid battered women also in Kansas Her gifts have always been accompanied by funding to help maintain the structures she helped build ) — 4141rLf- :' JfrliviodevrAt-1- Sit°61:IIIII t:31111) 2 1 14 fz— ivete that allowed him to reinterpret it for use in a public forum He saw the platform differently than McBride and the other representatives from the American Indian delegation that rightfully challenged the piece as being offensive to their culture - - tdrC 1 N -- x el that become stairways or ramps as they rise toward Nunemaker The main level is called The Gathering Place: there are a Quiet Place in which comfortable seating for small groups faces a fireplace and a secluded upper-leve- l loft for quiet meditation A small pipe organ can diffuse sound through the structure just as the tower scoop diffuses light Culp Construction Co which handled the building chores must have had its problems — what cladwith the use of ding for much of the structure highly polished wood on ceilings visible from many angles and a brown cast stone topping the scoop which is led up to by a roof structure In its design the firm pretty well proved that campus buildings need not be tired restatements of Old English or Colonial forms and that a strictly contemporary building can find a place in a wide assortment of earlier and later campus structures As for the building's namesake: Irene Nunemaker who lived for a time in Salt Lake is one of those businesswomen who made a name for themselves as CEO of a cosmetics firm She has given her own earnings for the construction of nursing homes in Kansas a building has been a "living- cam- - 'T ' ier-0- 't The building itself is a three-levaffair entered by walkways g south-facin- 451- - X? 7 1V: I- r4 - or years of use the with its curious 3( 1:- - Jack Goodman conducting this column I've most distinguishing -- 1 IS During its 17 years striking Nunemaker Place has been a "living" campus center for the Westminster community chic groups meant to stress the existence of Nunemaker Place to readers who may never have seen this modern structure But new construction on the Westminster College campus and the remodeling of older buildings always put the Nune maker Place building low on the informal list of things to do creek-spannin- gun-righ- t r): :7 JA(A Ever since this journalist began 17 f:'i-:- Poe non-LD- S different-appearin- 1 4 fi:- A414::: r :1 lit :: A1' rl' ' 2 : ' 'T''L-'12f--i-2---4-- Y:e4-'-'f18- i :-- '- ' z - tr1-4' 4- 04 ::-- T-- - N - (4I I 4 -- 570AN 4 qiV-- i - - FRANK McENTIRE ol Con-adi- T41 - 1 Ll r ‘Ni e e--' 4 g JQ:il— - 11 z ' PL4-- 1 et 4-4- 't i: ti7 'bes7fii st -- i 1'75ii 2 f A and cultural center for students of any and all persuasions makes it particularly purposeful in a state in which some 40 churches may feel overwhelmed by the size if not the dominance of Utahs established church During its ': - Aside from its appearance the fact it was designed as a religious strikingly f:i' - " 1 -- 1L - :- i '' '7'9- ": - e - 7'$12 t ! '4 iIiiiik t t- 7 i e 1 f-- IN— - '- - Vi" ''' 119)tlillt - 6 - I ktf A Hundreds of guns were purchased last year by Salt Lake City from its residents It was a gesture to help reduce violence and accidents that involve firearms Seeing an opportunity to recycle the guns into a public arts project artists and arts administrators made a proposal to Salt Lake City Arts Council management Nancy Boskoff and Kim Duffirt One option was to have art and shop teachers and students propose how they would use the guns to make a statement against violence Three proposals were submitted and Judge Memorial Catholic -High School was selected I waschosenwe were that surprised instructor Tom Bettin said "And I was absolutely amazed at the reaction to it once it was up" So was Mayor Deedee Her office immediately received complaints about the piece from American Indians advocates and watchdogs Within a few days Bettin and city officials gathered to discuss the piece with leaders from several organizations that serve American Indians -When I went into the meeting there were a lot of angry people- Bettin said Boskoff agreed: "We started with tension When we began sharing points of view it relaxed and became focused- Why the anger? Why the condemnation of the piece as sacrilege? "He didn't quite get it right" Cal Nez said of Bettin Nez a Navajo is a Salt Lake City artist and graphics designer Michael Fast Wolf McBride of Salt Lake City is an Oglala Sioux from South Dakota At the meeting he explained why Bettin didn't get it right and why American Indians are so angry "McBride said in the Dakotas when people of high status die they are placed on the scaffold as a way to honor them" Bettin said "To place the guns on the scaffolding gives the appearance that the firearms the gangs and the violence are being honored — not the victims as I intended" high-scho- t-- V::1714 ' t A- - : t --- :44'4 1' ' 'a ' -' 77'7' :' - A4- - r::-- 1 15 - 01 r ro0 ::::: r 1 4 ' ' ----- - - Az- - t""-L2- :- ' - 4-- ati----- y:'-x- Nunemaker Place ecumenical fi - - " J1 1 : F ele f t- A i - --- 1 14:117-- l !i ) r11- - g low-co- :2 Ird!1- Many years ago in 1977 to be precise Westminster College in Salt Lake City became the site of one of the community's truly buildings the unique-appearin- - 1:' j G SACRED GRO li Artist underestimated risks of using imagery from another culture Arj774 k 1 4 1994 :: CrOSSrOaCIS 328-447- 7 Oaza Valley Fair Mall 964-510- 0 (51e1teltr nem 41244 411141 - ' - : A I |
