The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Executive Director, Jill Snyder, has announced her resignation as of Friday June 19th after 23 years with the museum and just weeks after publicly apologizing for canceling ‘The Breath of Empty Space,’ an exhibition that had been slated to debut in Cleveland this month featuring Shaun Lenardo’s charcoal drawings of police violence against minorities, including Eric Garner and Tamir Rice.
Concerning the cancellation, moCa released a public letter of apology stating that moCa “…encountered troubling community response that suggested at this time we were not prepared to engage with the lived experiences of pain and trauma the work evokes….Taking such action to not honor our commitment to an artist is an anathema to moCa’s practice and values. We recognize this is a breach of trust. ”
Lenardo says that since the cancelation of his exhibition at MoCa it had been difficult to even talk about the show and in a public statement he claims that he, “…was never given the opportunity to be included in outreach, and therefore, never had a moment to engage any community member regarding the show. What has become evident to me since the receipt of this letter, is that after grave mishandling of communication regarding the exhibition, institutional white fragility led to an act of censorship.”
The Board at moCa has expressed “its deepest gratitude to Jill for her tireless work on behalf of our institution and for the innumerable contributions she has made for our members, patrons, and the community at large.”
Sources have told Scene that moCA staff had in recent weeks voiced their displeasure with how the decision was made to cancel the show.
Snyder didn’t address that in her statement.
“With my departure I embrace this as an opportunity to advance the movement for change that is now sweeping through our culture,” she said. “Through recent programming, moCa has demonstrated a desire to work in the territory of inclusion, equity, and community. Now it is time to select a progressive and innovative leader for the next phase in our history who will carry forward this work with new passion. For that new leader to have a seat at the table, I willingly give up my chair.”
Snyder began working with the museum 1996 when the organization was referred to as the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art before renaming itself the Museum of Contemporary Art and relocating in 2012 from Carnegie Ave. to its new home on Euclid Ave. in the heart of University Circle. The relocation of the museum was an initiative launched by Snyder.
During her long career, Snyder pushed for engagement and collaboration with the nationwide For Freedoms project through a series of Town Halls featuring community discourse on relevant social issues as well as advocating for the museum to be admission free and launching the “Open House” series of initiatives in hopes to make the museum to be more inclusionary.
Megan Lykins, moCa’s Deputy Director will act as Interim Director as the Board and senior management look to fill Snyder’s shoes. Although Snyder will no longer be the Executive Director with moCa, she will continue to consult with them throughout the rest of 2020 in efforts to offer a smooth transition while they, “turn to the work of identifying a visionary new leader who will maintain and advance moCa’s artistic and programmatic mission while opening us to the new possibilities that come with change.”
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2020.
This doesn’t seem like the right time for this exhibit. Some would feel it would just escalate tensions at the wrong moment. After the riots we just had this would be in bad taste. Like salt into a wound. Jill’s leaving is so heartbreaking.
Every three days in Cleveland alone, a black life is taken by another black.
When will there be an exhibition on black on black crime?
The average black family is about a thousand times more likely to be affected by black on black violence as opposed to police violence.
But these facts are ok to ignore?
What we really need to be talking about is the scourge of white-on-white crime. Did you know that a shocking 83% of whites are murdered by other whites? Moreover, white males murder white females at a rate six times higher than Black males murder Black females.
The rate of white-on-white crime in this country is astronomical when compared to similar nations.
I think we can trace these shocking facts to the pathology of the white family. Their toxic gun culture and hyper masculine insecurities have clearly warped the white family beyond recognition. Unfortunately, large social welfare programs just won’t work in our efforts to pull white families out of their moral poverty. Until there is a moral reawakening in the white family, we are just wasting money in the problem.
Hey Wally,
Whites are not running around yelling white lives matter, rioting and pretending the police are responsible for all their problems, while killing each other at the rate of three per day in Cleveland.
A rather poor defection attempt from a member of the ‘Scene Press Club’. But that’s not surprising.
Whoops!
“…while killing each other at the rate of three per day in Cleveland.”
That should have been “killing each other at the rate of one every three days in Cleveland alone”
Sorry, three per day is closer to the Chicago number for black on black murders.
Hey Lamo, it’s actually Whites that are now running around saying “Black Lives Matter.” And Blacks, and Hispanics, and Women, and Seniors, and Asians.
They only ones not saying it are White Males without any College.
All you Trumpies may just want to travel around the country in your rusted F150s, going to every Trump Rally, like a band of mean, uptight Dead Heads. I hear there isn’t a problem getting into Trump rallies. Just walk right up at the last minute, and get right into the front row. Blah-ha-ha!
If MoCa wanted to cancel artist Shaun Leonardo Exhibition on Police Brutality
they could have done so by Mr. Leonardo claim to be an Afro-Hispanic????? What the hell is that….
Hispanic Anchor babies r fleecing Grant Monies on the back of Black pain and suffering………….
No immigrant population can articulate the Black Experience in Amerikkk better than an Black negro
The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Executive Director, Jill Snyder and White Supremacist sleep in the same bed
All the Cleveland Museum stinks of Racism many located in the heart of an Black Community ………
A Featured works about the police killings of American Jews by an German / Italian American would never have been met with a celebration
“Hey Lamo, it’s actually Whites that are now running around saying “Black Lives Matter.” And Blacks, and Hispanics, and Women, and Seniors, and Asians.
They only ones not saying it are White Males without any College”
I imagine you have gotten to a point in your life where you need fantasies like those you stated above to you going.
So if all this is true, why did BLM choose to do their satellite protests in places like Hudson, Avon, and Chagrin Falls. All of which are locations that contain an overwhelming majority of college educate people and quite affluent.
Have a look at the voting statistics for Cuyahoga County from the last presidential election you will discover that the vast majority of affluent suburbs voted trump last time out.
The fantasy that liberals and lefties has last election that it was only going to be the rural illiterate that were voting trump it why they got surprised.
I’m a beyond middle aged white and college educated person. I voted for trump last time (or voted against hillary is probably a bit more realistic) but will not this time. The guy has simply turned out to be an embarrassment.
How would this go over?? An exhibition of all types of criminal behavior–robbery, murder, rape etc. It would be completely offensive on so many levels and would NEVER and should never be displayed. So why would it be O K to show police restraining resisting criminals in ANY manner? Guarantee: if they go on with this offensive show moCa never gets another dime donation from me. They must have some standards. Not all art is acceptable. moCa and Cleveland is better than this.
WRONG AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I bet u like guns ????????????
I do too………….. To shoot vicious mange, skin disease infected dogs …………………..
WOOF WOOF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chagrin Falls the racial makeup of the village was 98.0% White……………….
Hudson, Ohio the racial makeup of the city was 92.7% White………………
Avon, Ohio the racial makeup of the city was 92.4% White……………………..
.
These are modern day Sundown town all-white municipalities or neighborhoods that practiced segregation via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation, and violence.
Jim Crow laws and other racist practices made these cities possible, real estate agents use exclusionary covenants governing who could buy or rent property.
Intimidation and harassment by White Supremacist law enforcement officers keep these Sun Down suburbs all white…………………..
“what about black on black crime” Okay well everytime a mediocre white dude gets rejected and doesn’t have sex in high school he explodes years later gets an assault rifle and takes out a bunch of people so shut up