MARQUETTE - The age-old question of what is considered art is being posed about a piece on display at the Marquette Arts and Culture Center.
Marquette County Republican Party Chairman Dan Adamini said he and others are upset about an image in the center titled "American Fascists."
The image, by artist Sean Michael Stimac, has pictures of four Republican governors, including Gov. Rick Snyder. It describes the governors as anti-union, anti-worker, anti-woman, anti-elderly and anti-poor and encourages people to demand a recall. The image is part of a larger 22-piece exhibition at the center called "What's in a Name?" which features the artwork of local artists Joe Sobel and Stimac.
Adamini said the image is not art and questioned the judgment of those who determined it was.
"If everything in that gallery was a political ad then you could probably make the argument that this is political art, but the fact that everything in this gallery is artwork except for this one political ad, it calls into question the judgment of the people who had to go through some mental gymnastics to call this art versus the poster that it is," he said.
Stimac, a Northern Michigan University graduate with a degree in art and design and a degree in art history, said there is a long history in the art world of political commentary being considered art. He referenced political posters produced during the end of communist rule in the Eastern Bloc countries of Europe.
"Today, after 20 years of these posters being made, they are considered art," he said. "Graphic design is an art form and when you're taking separate visual elements and putting them together in a creative or interesting way it is art. Art can be political commentary."
Adamini said the image's call to action, which encourages people to contact their Democratic legislators and demand a recall, brings it out of the realm of art.
"There's a difference between evoking a response in people inherently and telling people to do something," he said.
Stimac disagreed.
"I believe that art should make a statement and art should make people think or lead people to act. The days of watercolor painting and abstract work that doesn't really represent anything tangible - those days are over. That's not art anymore. That's been out for 50 years. Art today is about relevant social issues, it's about relevant economic issues and it's about relevant political issues," he said, conceding that some people may have different opinions.
He said several of his pieces on display at the gallery are political in nature, just not as overt as the image in question.
"If the viewers were to really look at those other pieces then maybe they would have a better understanding of where I'm coming from and the methodology I employ in creating my work," he said.
There is a disclaimer at the entrance of the gallery which explains the views expressed inside are those of the exhibiting artists and are not necessarily representative of the views expressed by the city, the arts and culture center or the Peter White Public Library.
Nikke Nason, the center's arts administration director, and Karl Zueger, community services director for the city of Marquette - which oversees the center - both reviewed the image before it was put up last week. Zueger said it was also reviewed by Peter White Public Library Director Pam Christensen and Nheena Weyer Ittner, chairwoman of the Michigan Arts and Culture Affairs Commission.
"They were all in agreement it was art and it should be left up," Zueger said.
Nason said the center does not generally censor art. However because it is a public art gallery, gallery officials will turn away art if it is deemed obscene, racially discriminating, if it calls for violence or if it's sexually explicit or contains explicit language.
Nason and Zueger said political artwork that exaggerates or satirizes the truth is very common.
"Any newspaper you open I think there's political cartoonists that depict our nation's leaders in perhaps compromising ways," Zueger said. "Every Saturday night there's a show called 'Saturday Night Live' that's always had political satire as their centerpiece for humor. And that's all considered art, in terms of how the court system looks at it."
Adamini, who said he would be just as offended if the image showed Democrats, said he would like to see better judgment from gallery officials in the future.
Stimac said he appreciated contrary viewpoints to his own. However he said it was unfair for people to direct their criticism at the gallery's officials.
"It would be nice if people could write out those complaints in the book and I'll do my best to field those complaints. It's my job to do that," he said.
Christopher Diem can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242.
