Removing Lennon Photo From Exhibit a Huge Mistake

As a Fullerton resident and member of the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, I would like to express my support for curator Norman Lloyd. He launched an excellent and thought-provoking show in “Heroes, Heroines, Idols and Icons.”

Indeed, what does constitute a hero in our times? The fact that the image of a “questionable” hero was censored from behind the scenes after the exhibit was launched angers me. I am opposed to this approach to curatorship whether for aesthetic or content reasons. Once an exhibit is launched, to alter it against the will of the curator seems clearly to be wrong, as well as misleading to the community, since, good or bad, it is Norman Lloyd’s name that is on the show.

Lloyd assured me that the Muckenthaler trustees and organization are much more enlightened than this controversy would indicate. Therefore, I trust that this issue of sovereignty will be spelled out in accordance with an openness that will further cultural dialogue, not suppress it.

We are very lucky to have a curator of such high caliber as Lloyd. His support of local artists would be a loss to all of us if he left to work for a larger institution that operated with a more standard practice of deportment.

ALEC VARGO, Fullerton