SARASOTA, Fla. — First, it faced vandalism and now, organizers of the "Embracing Our Differences" exhibition say a request from the State College of Florida bordered on censorship.
The school requested they remove some artwork from their line up but now organizers have canceled the stop on campus entirely and are looking for a new location.
State College of Florida (SCF) listed Sarasota artist Clifford McDonald's entry into the exhibition as one it didn't want on its campus during the stop originally scheduled for April 26 to May 29.
"I was just like really surprised and confused about how it was offensive," McDonald said.
According to organizers, SCF asked for three artworks and the words justice, inclusion, and diversity to be removed from the display.
"That really made no sense to me because I feel like those words when I think about America," McDonald said. "Like those words come to mind and that's what we're supposed to represent."
McDonald's mixed media art features recent and past civil rights struggles, the late Senator and activist John Lewis, and is titled after his popular phrase, "good trouble."
"I just really wanted to represent like all people in that piece," he said. "It wasn't just about me and issues that affect me."
The other artworks the school's leaders wanted to remove include, "Body & Voice," which depicts a group of pregnant women on one end and a group of men on another. Above the women is a dialogue bubble asking "Do We Not Have A Voice About Our Own Body?"
The third artwork, "Being Different Gives the World Color," featured various masks. SCF leaders took issue with the accompanying quote which included the words "diversity" and "inclusion."
"At no point, when we're asking people to check out the exhibit, are we saying you should see a piece exactly in a certain way," Ben Jewell-Plocher with "Embracing Our Differences" said.
Jewell-Plocher said the organization's board decided to pull the exhibition from SCF altogether and find a new location because the request went against their mission. He said the goal of the exhibit is not only to showcase the diversity of all people, cultures, and ideas in our world and community but to also start conversations or foster ongoing ones.
"We realize that some pieces might pose more challenging conversations for a group of people or a challenging topic, but they all reflect different voices from our local and global community," Jewell-Plocher said.
"My art is really my voice and that's how I like to express myself, so I think it is damaging to silence people that way," McDonald said.
When asked about the matter, a spokesperson for SCF sent this statement below:
"State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) is a long-term partner of Embracing our Differences (EOD) and shares a purpose to provide engaging and accessible learning environments. After due consideration and with disappointment, we decided to withdraw the exhibit from SCF Bradenton in the best interest of and in preserving the safety and security of our college community," Jamie M. Smith, associate vice president of communications, said.
"We exercised our right, per our September 2022 agreement, to review the displays and asked that three pieces, 'Body & Voice,' 'Good Trouble,' and 'Being Different Gives the World Color,' be withheld from the exhibit, which may have been found offensive and not embraced. We also took into consideration the values of the college, the recent vandalism of EOD's display, and current threats of violence on school campuses, which may detract from this event being safe, welcoming, and inclusive as it was meant to be," Smith said.