Students Protest Vandalism of Latino Artwork

Latino students occupied the Cornell University administration building Saturday to protest the vandalism of a massive sculpture by Los Angeles artist Daniel J. Martinez.

The outdoor, wall-like sculpture was defaced with spray-painted slogans after it went on display on the Ithaca, N.Y., campus as part of an exhibit by eight Latino artists.

Martinez, 36, who lives on the Eastside, said in an interview Saturday that he was surprised by the extent of vandalism that his sculpture suffered, calling it a “fundamental barbaric response to aesthetic investigation. It’s Philistine.”

He said he supports the students’ protest and is attempting to contact leaders of the sit-in, which began Friday. The university failed “in its responsibility of stewardship” of the sculpture, Martinez said, “and that responsibility was taken up by the students.”

The maze-like sculpture, called “The Castle Is Burning,” consists of walls made of panels painted with tar. The walls line paths that cross the “Arts Quad,” a large, grassy quadrangle near the university library.

Martinez said that before leaving Ithaca on Nov. 8, he saw a swastika that had been painted on the sculpture. Since then, he has been told that some panels have been kicked out, and others have been spray-painted with profanities.

“I assumed that some level of graffiti would occur, but on a normal basis,” he said.

Students, who are conducting the sit-in at Cornell’s Day Hall, have issued a list of demands. They are calling on university administrators to condemn the vandalism and step up patrols of the sculpture, said Cornell spokeswoman Linda Grace-Kobas.

The students are also asking Cornell to improve its recruiting of Latino students and boost its funding of Latino programs.

About 5% to 6% of Cornell’s 16,000 undergraduate students are Latinos, Grace-Kobas said. She said about 70 students were occupying the administration building.

The art exhibition opened Nov. 6 and is to continue until Dec. 19.

Exhibit co-curator Chon Noriega, who is a Cornell visiting professor and a UCLA assistant professor of film and television, compared the debate over Latino studies at Cornell to that at UCLA.

The sculpture, he said, brought to the surface “all the conflicts that were already there.”