Dear Walker Art Center

Dear Walker Art Center,

First off, you know I love you guys.  Your museum is the main reason I love art today.  I have missed the Sculpture Garden greatly and look forward to it reopening.

Let's talk about the mistake you made.

Art is not a mistake, nor should artists apologize for creating art which stirs passions.  The sculpture "Scaffold," by artist Sam Durant is a shocking piece, an interpretation of hanging gallows partially inspired by the hanging of 38 Dakota tribe members in Minnesota, in 1862.  There's nothing wrong with displaying a shocking piece of art which stirs discussion, and frankly the non-Native American population needs to recognize their catastrophic mistakes in regards to the failed treatment of the Native American population by the US Government and it's predominately caucasian population, throughout the entire history of the United States, including today.  The Walker trying to facilitate that discussion is quite appropriate.

Here's where you screwed up.  When you decided to install an EXTREMELY racial sensitive piece, you should have taken the time to reach out to the Native American community to discuss it with them first.  By you not doing so, you turned the installation into a racially insensitive act.

If you were to install a sculpture of burning crosses, you surely would've contacted the African American community to give them a heads up about it.  Your unintentional, but undeniable, ignorance to the cultural sensitivity of the hangings in 1862 is not an excuse, and only adds to the insensitivity of the installation.

I'm concerned your failure to address the local Native American community's legitimate sensitivity over the subject might lead to further conflict.  My suggestion: donate the piece to the local Native American Community and let them decide what they want to do with it.  If they decide to leave it in the Sculpture Garden, great!  Let it be the facilitator for a discussion of the mistreatment of Native Americans.  If they decide to remove the sculpture, don't criticize them for doing so.  I'm more than happy to suggest a few talented sculptors who you could commission to create a piece to replace it.

The mistake was made on the front end of this project, not at the end of it.  It doesn't mean you're bad people.  Take this reaction to "Scaffold" and turn it into something which you can learn and grow from.  It's something the artwork in your fine museum and sculpture garden has been doing for members of the community for years.

M