By Ronald W. Weathersby
As the Metro Arts Commission Selection Panel for the Civil Rights Arts Project prepares to select the artist team that will produce public art that will be erected as an honor to Nashville’s unique place in the Civil Rights struggle, the Metro Minority Caucus has officially entered into a long-running disagreement between the city and the Civil Rights Veterans Association (CRVA).
In a letter to Jennifer Cole, director of the Metro Arts Commission, Caucus President, Council Lady Erica Gilmore requested that at least three members of the CRVA be placed on the selection committee. The Minority Caucus appointed Councilwoman Karen Johnson as a liaison to work with the Metro Arts Commission and the Civil Rights Association for the duration of this process.
Johnson told the Tribune that CRVA members, Gloria McKissack, Kwame Lillard, and Matthew Walker, Jr. should have input in the design of the tribute.
“I don’t understand the pushback as this is very important to not only the African American community, but the entire city of Nashville,” Johnson said. “This is about doing what is right. To have living civil rights participants shut out of a very important process to select art that is representative of the sit-in’s that occurred here in Nashville that not only changed Nashville, but changed things nationally is not in the minority caucus view as well as countless other council members as being acceptable. They deserve to be on the selection committee period.”
In a letter to the Caucus dated Feb. 3, 2014, Cole said the committee had been selected and was close to deciding among four finalists.
“The Arts Commission has already voted and approved a panel for this project,” Cole wrote. “The panel has its next meeting in March and adding members at this juncture would be highly irregular. The panel, per statue, includes artists, designers and in this case several individuals who were active in various parts of our local Civil Rights struggle.”
Johnson argues that the panel’s composition could be modified and who best to sit on the committee than the individuals who participated in the events that are bring commemorated. However, Cole says the intent of the project is not to allow too much control to any one individual or, one group.
“I would like to reiterate that this is a public art project, not a historical monument. I have articulated many times in public that as a work of art, the intent is not to represent every piece of history related to Nashville’s Civil Rights struggle, but rather, through an artist’s lens to create a work that inspires and illuminates. I believe several members of the Veterans Association continue to request undue influence in this project and our process exists to protect against this.”
At a regularly scheduled meeting of the Public Arts Committee of the Commission on Feb. 12, that committee voted not to add any additional members to the Selection Panel citing the fact that there were already the maximum amount of members chosen and there were already three veterans of the Civil Rights era serving on the panel.
The revelation that the matter was taken up without the Minority Caucus being notified drew the ire of Johnson speaking on behalf of the Caucus.
“We are disappointed and confused. Is this an open process or a closed process? We are the the minority elected officials of the city and we have been shut out. I am surprised that after the Commission received a unanimous letter from the Caucus we did not receive an email or a phone call informing us about the meeting.”
On Sept. 3, 2013 the Public Art Fund appropriated $350,000 for the project which will be located in the Public Square Park next to the historic metro Courthouse sometime in the next year.
The disagreement between the Council members and the Arts Commission is based on a misunderstanding of the project according to Cole.
“The Civil Rights Arts Project commemorates the entirety of Nashville’s history not just the sit-ins. There are three Civil Rights veterans on the Selection Committee and the (Public Arts) Committee decided there was not a need to replace any existing members.”
However, on the Arts Commission’s Website the downtown Nashville sit-in’s by local African American students at segregated lunch counters are the highlight of the narrative describing the project.
“The location for the first Civil Rights-inspired artwork will be Public Square Park. It was in downtown Nashville that students from the city’s four black colleges and seminaries launched a nonviolent protest against segregated lunch counters and other public accommodations on Feb. 13, 1960. The sit-in campaign became a highly effective tool in the fight against racial segregation and injustice in the South and across the United States. The civility of the sit-ins and the emphasis on student training and coordination in non-violent tactics became known as the “Nashville Movement.”
In her letter earlier this month Cole, told the Minority Caucus if they and the CRVA do not like the existing process they can erect their own monument.
“If members of the veteran community would like to specifically outline what a monument looks like and what it represents, I suggest that there be private funding identified and located for a historical monument that meets their specific requirements.”
