Artist Booted: Why?

"I don't no stinkin' date"

Call the Cops!

October 01, 2007

Adam Teitelbaum
Teitelbaum Art Studio
www.TaosArtStudio.com
HCR 74 Box 21408
El Prado, NM 87529

To: The Fall Arts Festival Board Members.

On the 25th of September at 5:00PM, My wife Tracy received a phone call from someone named Aaron from the Fall Arts Festival informing us the piece of art I entered in the Taos Open, “Cupids Last Stand,� was not eligible to hang in the show due to a rule regarding when the piece was signed and dated.

On the September 18, 2007, I brought my work, filled out the paper work, paid the $20.00 and left. Nothing was said to me and my work was accepted. Everyone saw it there on Opening Night, as well as all weekend. That seems like a totally win-win situation for you. Worst case, you get my $20.00. If you are lucky, someone with a sense of humor will see it and buy it on the spot, since I under-priced my Gallery by 20% it's a hell of a deal and $400.00 for you.

On Wednesday, September 26th I went to Baatan Hall to pick up the artwork. I was only mildly irritated, thinking I would get to explain that it was the only piece I had that fit the published requirements. I was actually surprised. My piece, “Cupid's Last Stand,� seemed to meet the requirements published in the newspaper and online. All the rules I could find only dealt with size and price, nowhere on the information, or on the contract did it say anything in relation to date of creation requirements.

When I requested more specific information from the young man who appeared to be running the show. I wanted to know the reason behind the ejection, who authorized it, when was this rule put in place? Why was “Cupid's Last Stand� singled out when many pieces in the show have no date at all? He very curtly repeated that my piece was not eligible to be in the show and pointed out the date I had signed. No questions, no discussion, no comment. I was expecting at least an apology for the inconvenience, or the misunderstanding, and maybe even the offer to return the $20, which we would have gladly donated anyway.

In response to my request, and mounting frustration, he proceeded to say, and I quote, “Get out of MY show,� while a young lady next to him started yelling “get out of here, get out of here�, and threatened to call the police. All the while a women volunteer sitting at the desk refused to respond at all, smiling dumbly into space even when I spoke directly to her. I went ballistic, and you would have too. I bet I got red, my voice got loud and I yelled. That is not a crime.

Within 3 minutes things had escalated to the point where the young man is calling, or pretending to call the police. I asked for the director/manager Pat, and for a copy of the rules. When Pat showed up she waved her hand dismissively and yelled at me to get out of the building. It was as if I was a threat, or a criminal. This was mean-spirited and absolutely unacceptable, callous and cowardly behavior. Not to mention the fact that the Taos Police have a lot more important things to worry about than an unhappy artist at a community show.

I must say I have never been so angry, I have never felt as dismissed or degraded in my entire 20 + years of showing art, as I did at that moment. I have participated in more than 100 juried shows and exhibitions and have met some really rude people. Most of those were at juried shows with serious academic judges, where the competition for the limited available wall space is heated and it should be.

For 33 years The Taos Fall Arts Festival, which includes the Taos Open has been touted as a world-class art event here in New Mexico. Many artists build their careers and identities around this show. I have been living here in Taos for six years and since my Piece “Hurt in an Accident� won the 2002 1st Place Best of Mixed Media, my wife and I have looked forward to the Taos Open as an opportunity to participate in this community event, and to contribute to a worthy cause. As struggling artist it is the one way we can make a substantial donation that we could not otherwise afford. It is a community gathering in the spirit of giving. It is the artists who do everything for this show. They make the art, hang it, donate it, and do volunteer work.

These donations the artist's make should be shown the same respect as anyone else's donation. Even though it seemed to mean so little to Pat at the time, this donation represents an artist's time, energy, love, and devotion. Since it is an OPEN show and everyone is invited, all of the accepted art should be treated equally. This complaint is not about who the judges are, whether we have been invited or not, whether the Hall itself is clean and nice, or whether the show is well hung.

No Gallery owner, no museum director no festival organizer, and no single person in any art situation I can think of, has shown such casual disregard for the donation of a most precious gift of art. Not to mention $ 20.00, which I gladly donate.


In light of this, I accept my role as artist/provocateur. Therefore, I want a written detailed explanation, exactly why my piece was removed. I want to see where any pertinent rules are written down and available for the artist to read. I meet all the published requirements. In addition, The Fall Arts Festival Board members and its agents have applied a standard only to my piece “Cupid's Last Stand�. Were all of the pieces submitted, checked for their date of creation? Why was this piece singled out?

The only rational conclusion that I can make is that my work is actually being censored for content, and that this matter was not fully disclosed to me, for some hereto-unknown reason. As an artist and thinker, the irrational part of me wants to know if I am being discriminated against for some other reason. Am I too Jewish? Have I personally offended someone so deeply in the Taos art world that they have a vendetta against me? Is this cultural racism? Or is it just old-fashioned closed mindedness, the kind that breeds hate, injustice, and discrimination on a much larger scale. I believe that there could have been a less stupid, cheap, mean, ugly, punitive, and disrespectful way to throw my work out of the show.

I demand and deserve a personal apology from Pat and the Taos Fall Arts Board.

And on a very personal note I would like to apologize to Aaron, who I don't know, for losing my patience with him. He didn't deserve it. He should never have been put in the position of having to deal with me, and who ever made him the one who had to call me, should be ashamed of themselves for setting him up like that.