Art 180 ordered to remove portraits from Monument Avenue

March 31, 2012; 6:37 PM • by Fan of the Fan

An email by Marlene Paul, co-founder and executive director of Art 180, says that the organization has been ordered to remove their exhibition of 8-foot-tall self-portraits by 25 sixth grade students from the median of Monument Avenue by Friday. While Art 180 has a permit to keep the display up until early May, there have been complaints about the artwork being in place during the Easter Parade.

Despite the enormous outpouring of positive comments we’ve heard about our Monument Avenue exhibition–and the great photo on the front page of yesterday’s Times-Dispatch, we have been ordered to remove them by Friday.

This is a shock and disappointment, given that we have been working since last summer to follow protocol and seek the necessary approval, and we have a permit from the City’s Department of Public Works for them to remain on Monument until May 4.

Some of our fellow citizens feel that we should never have been granted permission to display the portraits on The Grand Avenue, and this is a case of people w/ money and influence vetoing City authority–where is the fairness in that? I spoke directly with one of these unhappy Monument residents, who had already contacted the Mayor’s office and won over Councilman Charles Samuels (who is, conveniently, up for reelection in a hotly-contested race). This one resident is apparently not alone, as there have been other complaints to City Hall. I don’t know how many, and I am struggling to understand why their voices can cause the revocation of a legally obtained permit. I am equal parts outraged, brokenhearted, exasperated, and proud that the portraits are on Monument right now, regardless of how long they stay.