Drawing Center Penciling Itself Out of Plans
by Leonard Greene
It could be back to the drawing board for the controversial Drawing Center.
The edgy downtown museum has gone from preparing to move to Ground Zero, once construction there is complete, to considering pulling out of the site altogether, according to a published report.
The museum has been criticized by relatives of some 9/11 victims who say cultural displays---especially those critical of the United States---have no place at the hallowed site.
Catherine de Zegher, The Drawing Center's executive director, is waiting to hear from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. about how much freedom the museum would have at the site.
"The LMDC knows we would never be able to accept censorship," she told Crain's New York.
The Drawing Center, one of four cultural institutions chosen a year ago to move to Ground Zero, was attacked last month over an exhibit at its SoHo gallery satirizing President Bush's "axis of evil" comments.
Another of the four, the Freedom Center, has been similarly criticized over programming plans deemed unpatriotic. But it has assured the LMDC that is content will not be un-American.
The Drawing Center's refusal to make such a promise has riled critics.
"We just want them to represent people who died that day," said Sonia Bonomo, whose daughter, Yvette, 30, perished on 9/11.
"The LMDC knows we would never be able to accept censorship," she told Crain's New York.
How telling. Usually, this is important because these people have not shown themselves in the past to be able to be appropriate and responsible.
To them, someone saying "Shhhh...." to them when they start spouting cusswords in a church is censorship.