March 2001 • April 2001 • May 2001 • June 2001 • July 2001 • August 2001 • September 2001

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JUNE 2001
(Click on date for complete email)

•Aside from the fact that this art is protected by free speech laws, it is clear to me after reading the article in the Los Angeles Times (May 27) that Ms. Lopez meant no disrespect to the Catholic religion.--Laurie Betlach, Santa Fe, New Mexico (06/04/01)

•As a Salish writer I am committed to the "right to voice and the obligation to express".  -- lee maracle (06/12/01)

•It is important for artist and musuem to have the freedom to express their creativity and spirituality. --Patricia A. Montgomery (06/12/01)

•I finally figured out what ticks me off so much about the LupeSirena payasadas and CyberChapel, here in N.M., is that it has made a circus of the religious folk art tradition, a tradition which is "de lo nuestro",  of us manito/raza. -- Pedro Romero Sedeño, New Mexico (06/13/01)

•i think your work is great and no matter what anyone says you should keep expressing your opinions and you cant always please everyone but that doesn't mean you should stop what your doing.--mariam (06/13/01)

•Regarding one's faith, an image should not shake one's faith unless one actually has no faith...--Roberto Rodriguez (06/13/01)

•Why do you feel it necessary to depict Our Lady as a defiant, provocative ,"in your face" woman? She is the gentle, loving Mother of Our Lord- you cheapen her and all womankind by your depiction.--Gerrigerling (06/13/01)

•I admire these women for producing such controversy-prone work but by employing such obvious and loaded topics: sex and religion, Alma and Raquel risk the central merit of the piece.--Sergio Zentenooppose you now are too far from the truth to understand that their own rights have been, and will be, imperiled, by the very same tacitcs they are using against you.--Noel Wynn (06/13/01)

•Commandeering this image to give relevance to one's own political agenda, as Alma Lopez has done, trivializes the esteem or value (syn.: respect) many Mejicanos and Nuevo Mejicanos have for the traditional image and its role in their personal experience. --Pedro Romero Sedeño, New Mexico (06/13/01)

•It saddens me that, as a man who is looked to for leadership by so many, Archbishop Sheehan missed the opportunity to enlighten his people. He could have taught them that a graven image is only an image. He could have taught them that the Lady of Guadalupe is really about truths of human compassion that are more real than a mere image painted on rough cloth.--Ernest Garcia, New Mexico (06/14/01)

•What disturbs me more than the art is the response to it... --Roberto Rodriguez (06/14/01)

•Our Lady has a thousand faces. Thank you for representing one of them so courageously.--Erica Hill (06/14/01)

•I have found that all the communication from Mr. Sedano has been a misdirection of energy. --Traveisa/Margaret Garcia, Los Angeles, CA (06/15/01)

•Alma´s trivialization  of a real Spirt, la Madre Celestial, is what I have consistently challenged, as well as the Raquel Salinas poster, with a call for respect for Spirit and truth, as well as Hispano and Mejicano traditions and cultural identity.--Pedro Romero Sedeño, New Mexico (06/16/01)

•Honestly, I believe this is the most flattering portrait of the Virgin I have ever seen. --Becky Ewing (06/16/01)

•i support any artwork that encourages and provokes thought and discussion.--moto (06/17/01)

•Persecution and Genocide in the name of Religion, Economics, Politics and Cleansing.--Alma Martinez (06/17/01)

•There will always be those who cannot see a woman as anything but a sex object, especially if the parts of her body we have arbitrarily decided are 'obscene' are shown.--Carmen Beaudry (06/18/01)

•Artists, through the ages, have helped us see the world a different way -- and this artwork is no exception.--Chris Chrisman, Queretaro, Mx (06/18/01)

•You are communicating a very important message because it is a basic and simple truth that has yet to gain universal acceptance.--Alan Nakagawa (06/18/01)

•You will go to hell for this bad image called "Our Lady"--Ibrahim Labib (06/20/01)

• I think that your depiction of the Virgin is OK. --Manuel Gurule (06/20/01)

•you have everyone in an uproar over your interoperation of art.--ralph layman (06/20/01)

•Yo, no veo absolutamente nada de malo en tus pinturas, al contrario creo que lo que has creado es muy "al punto+" como mujer latina tus pintura son muy llena de vitalidad, valor, energia etc. etc.--Lizett Morgan (06/21/01)

•Thank you very much, Alma Lopez, for letting us get a closer look at whom the enemy (satan) is using now against God's people. --Dora Gallardo (06/23/01)

•Take heart and remember that any kind of criticism is good if it makes people think about art. --Linda Sorrick (06/23/01)

•Being an Atheist Hispanic woman, I do not see a disrespectful image.--Lynn (06/25/01)

•Thoughout history artist have portrayed the holy family in many ways.Michael Angelo painted naked angels all over the celing to the Sistine Chapel.--Michael Carlisle (06/25/01)

•I can see why some people mightbe offended. But u do have your right of self-expression.--Herman Segovia (06/25/01)

• I don't want to say that I found it offensive, but I didn't like it.--Jesse Galvan (06/25/01)

•Although I don't like some of the "art" out there, I do respect others views.--Tony (06/25/01)

•I wanted to write a quick email saying that this New Mexican supports you and your work. "Our Lady" is a powerful and bold statement that should be shared. --Doug Bocaz-Larson (06/26/01)

•People that cannot appreciate your art should get a life. --DavidH (06/26/01)

• En algún momento ha causado controversía no solamente en donde se exhibe la obra, sino en todo latinoamérica.--Paul Velazquez (06/26/01)

•In essence, the piece could be interpreted as a desecration of a holy icon. --Steve DaLuz (06/26/01)

•You do have the freedom to create what you want. I just don't think you understand what the Virgin Mary means to so many people and because of that you have created something vulgar. --Nancy Richard (06/27/01)

•Es muy tonta su idea la verdad y es una ofensa a quienes profesamos la religión católica y sobre todo a quienes nacimos en México y somos creyentes de la virgen guadalupana...--Norma Leticia Noriega Velázquez (06/27/01)

•Eres una puerca por mezclar lo religioso con tus pendejadas.--Horacio López Ramírez (06/27/01)

•¿Qué te motivo a realizar "nuestra señora"?, ¿En algún momento te sentiste que estabas faltando contra algo?-- Paul Velazquez (06/27/01)

•Women are comfortable with female bodies, but many men are awed or frightened by them.--Gila Jones (06/28/01)

•por que se ocupan tanto de nuestras creencias religiosa, las consideran tan fuertes que quieren destruirlas, o considera que creatividad artistica es tan pobre que tiene que recurrir a crear polemica escandalosa para sobresalir y darse a conocer..--MARY (06/28/01)

•Respect Our Lady do not mock her for a dollar.--Conchita Lucero (06/28/01)

•La Verdad no creo que seas mexicana un mexicano ama y respeta a su madre en la tierra y a la del cielo.--Jose Antonio R Gonzalez (06/29/01)

•We need to continue to create a space for ourselves, and it is artists such as yourself that give us the strength and inspiration to do so. --Lolita Roibal, KUNM radio (06/29/01)

•Al decirte que admiro tu trabajo y me solidarizo contigo por lo que te ha tocado enfrentar (yo también he desafiado "el orden" y me ha caído encima el fundamentalismo religioso), te envío un artículo (en texto y también adjunto en formato RTF) que publiqué hoy en mi columna en el diario Siglo Veintiuno de Guatemala.--Laura E. Asturias, Diario Siglo Veintiuno, Guatemala (06/30/01)

•Estas supuestas defensoras de la mujer le faltan el respeto a María de Nazareth, una Mujer que no escribió nada, pero que tuvo la valentía de estar de pie junto a la cruz de su hijo, que supo ser ejemplo para todos con el testimonio de su vida intachable con la que enaltece a toda mujer. --Ari Castañeda (06/30/01)

•A católicos como nuestra familia nos da pena que tengan necesidad de utilizar nuestra fe y creencias con propósitos mundanos y comerciales. --opinion@elperiodico.com.gt (06/30/01)

•And all I see is the devil hovering above you, but don't despair because Christ is here, too. --Fatima Rodriguez Herrera (06/30/01)

•Personally, I do not find your interpretation to be at all offensive. However, I do not find that your rendition puts La Virgen in a position of strength. --Tracy Blanchette (06/30/01)

•I completely agree that no one, has a right to censor works of Art -- it completely defies the purpose of having exhibitions of this nature that promote work by Latinas.--Francis Villalpando (06/30/01)