Art or Porno?

Yesterday I went with Christyne on a field trip to the PS Art Museum.  I was excited, because I like that museum.  They have some great things there.  Well, we get there, and I was with a group of 6 kids and a docent.  The docent was an 80+ year old lady who was named Ms. Rose.  She seemed nice, and she was good with the kids, so I thought it would be a great time.  We got onto the elevator and went up to the top floor.  I was in the back of the group, making sure no kids wandered off.  The first thing Ms. Rose took the kids to was a statue that was life size, natural skin colored nude woman who was laying on her side.  I could not believe it.  The most offensive piece of art in the whole place, and it was the first thing we saw.  Because I was at the end of the  group, I didn't get there until they were all staring at it.  And then I thought if I protested, the kids might focus on it more, and we would be staring at it longer.  So I kept quiet, and hoped it would end soon.  We were only there for a little while, but it seemed like eternity.  When we left that statue, the kids kept trying to look at it, I would help them focus on what was ahead, not behind.

Needless to say that was not good, and it bothered me all day long.  I thought about the term "art"  and what a stupid word it is.  Apparently anything anyone feels like doing is art.  The Mona Lisa, a child's drawing, beautiful music, a simple circle on a canvas, two swings hanging in a museum, a realistic statue of a nude woman, pornography, garbage  (there was an exhibit there of filled black garbage bags), heavy metal music, dirty clothes, etc.  To call all of these things art is an insult to the truly good works of art.  I understand that some people may call each of these things art.  So the fact that the statue is in the museum is not the problem.  My problem is that there were no warning signs "Rated R" etc.  Also, that the docent thought it was appropriate to take 8 year olds to see it.  When I signed the permission slip, I never thought they would see something like that.  I am not a prude, I know some art is controversial.  And sometimes you see a little nudity like the back of a woman, or someone kind of blurry from far away.  But this was disgusting.  If a woman had gotten naked and laid on a bench across the street from the museum at the park, and looked exactly the same, she would have been arrested for indecent exposure.  Why is it OK to show it to kids in a museum, but if they saw the same thing outside, it would be against the law.  Even some movie works of "art" are rated R.  Just because it is art doesn't mean children should see it.

Anyway, my daughter's teacher is on the same page as me.  She has taken kids to that museum for 20 years, and has never had that happen.  That statue is new, and she didn't know about it.  She was upset when I told her what happened, and was on the phone with the museum to voice her complaint.  Just a warning to all parents.  Before you send your child to that art museum, go there yourself and check it out, or go on the field trip and tell the docent what you expect of them before they take your group.  Then scan ahead of the kids to stop them from coming into contact with "artistic pornography".  And be ready to deal with the docent if she gives you any trouble.  I was caught off guard.  That will never happen again.  It is sad when a museum is a dangerous place.  I am going to let the museum know how I feel.  The museum is so nice and big, we could have seen so many other wonderful pieces of art, but instead we got disgusting trash.