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Council for Artists' Rights

Dallas art scene continues to receive criticism from


different fronts
Dallas Museum of Art "incidents" highlighted by traditional journalists
and "new" media arts and entertainment bloggers

August 2, 2010

Scot Craig Hart, Editor


Arts + Culture DFW Magazine
381 Casa Linda Plaza Suite 363
Dallas, Texas 75218
Email: scot@artsandculturedfw.com
Website: www.artsandculturedfw.com

Re: your July/August 2010 editorial in Arts + Culture DFW Magazine

Dear Scot Craig Hart:

I am glad I learned of your editorial, it was recently brought to my attention. Too many decades
have passed without constructive criticism of the Dallas visual arts scene. Your editorial breaks
with the silence of the past. As such, it appears we are natural allies.

Much thanks for reading our artists' rights email of June 16, 2010, "Update: Dallas Museum of
Art Ignores Kelley's "Remove my painting." As you may know, D Magazine arts writer Peter
Simek followed up on this artists' rights issue by writing four articles in his Front Row section.
The first one was published on June 2, 2010 called "Artist Chapman Kelley to DMA: 'I'll Take My
Painting Back Now, Thank You.'" It was followed later that day by "Chapman Kelley and the
Dallas Museum of Art, Cont." The next one was published on June 10, "Dallas Museum of Art to
Artist Chapman Kelley: 'Your Work is Not for Sale.'" The most recent article appeared on the
Internet on June 23, 2010 called "Dallas Museum of Art Director Aims For 'Growth.'" It appears
on the Internet as well as in the print edition of the current July issue of D Magazine.

Due to our delay in learning of your Arts + Culture DFW Magazine, I want to take the
opportunity to give you a broader perspective of our artists' rights campaign. For your
convenience, I have included a series of our Council for Artists' Rights archived emails dating to
the first one of January 29, 2010. (Most of the links below will take you to www.Scribd.com.)

June 1, "Dallas, TX Arts Institutions Vs. Artists Claes Oldenburg-Coosje van Bruggen, Kelley
and Kraft"
May 24, "Continued Cover Up by Dallas Morning News of $56M "permanent collection" Sales by
Dallas Museum of Art"

May 18, "$31M Secret Rothko Sale article in Dallas Morning News fails to ask questions"

May 16 "Collector Vs Collector Lawsuit After Secret Rothko Sale - Now Valued at $31.4 Million -
Exposes Dallas Museum of Art"

April 30 "U.S. Art Museums, Auction Houses, Galleries, Perceived as Corrupt - Reforms
Demanded"

March 30 "North Texas Museums' Prestige for Sale"

February 2, "Deep in the Art of Texas: the True State of the Visual Arts"

January 29, 2010 "CBS televised video errs in reporting $400 million art collection gift to Dallas
Museum of Art, Texas"

And prior to that, on May 18, 2009 reporter Brooks Egerton started a Dallas Morning News blog
with a maiden entry entitled "They Won't Talk: Dallas Museum of Art." His story starts
out, "Today we launch a regular feature that spotlights officials who won't talk." Egerton refers
to Dallas Museum of Art Executive Director Bonnie Pitman's decision to keep secret from public
view the financial details of the King Tut exhibition after Dallas Morning News reporter Michael
Granberry reported on Sunday May 17, 2010 about the show, "Dallas city, museum officials call
King Tut exhibit a success despite low attendance." Also on May 17, Egerton reported on the
lack of museum transparency regarding the King Tut exhibition in his "Dallas Museum of Art
wants to keep Tut exhibit's financial details a secret". Egerton ended his article with an
unflattering perspective of Pitman, "Pitman initially said she'd do an interview for Granberry's
story but backed out at the last minute. Too busy, her PR lady said."

Stay tuned!

All the best to you,


John Viramontes

cc: Patricia Mora - Arts + Culture DFW Magazine, website


Brooks Egerton - Dallas Morning News
Lindsay Pollock - art market journalist & blogger

The Council for Artists Rights is based in Chicago, IL USA. Its thrust is to educate the
public about artists' rights and advocates for artists whose work is in distress. CFAR was
spontaneously born in 2004 when devotees of public art learned a city park district had
irrevocably altered--without its creator's permission--a 20 year old work of public art.
Recognition of CFAR founding member John Viramontes
Honoree, Huffington Post blogger Esther J. Cepeda's Chicago Latino List 2009.

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