•SANTA FE - Information on the Santa Fe Archdiocese, Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez and church pedophiles, and press release statements against "Our Lady" digital print from Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan.

 

•February 15, 2001 www.catholicleague.org

From viewing the book that accompanies the Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibition, “Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers,” it is clear that most entries are worthy of much praise.  But it is also clear that the display by Renee Cox, “Yo Mama’s Last Supper,” is worthy of much condemnation. -- Catholic League president William Donohue

 

•March 2001 www.theartnewspaper.com

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York has made good on his threat to create a "decency commission" empowered to shield New Yorkers from potentially offensive works in museums that receive money from the city of New York. The 23-person body will first have to agree on which kind of art might require fig leaves or banishment, although courts are likely to reject any effort by new Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission to impose "community standards" on galleries that the city funds.--By David D'Arcy

 

•March 2001 www.loper.org

"Compared with a photograph of a nude woman as Jesus at the Last Supper or a painting of the Virgin Mary with a dollop of elephant dung on her breast, a computerized photo collage of Our Lady of Guadalupe wearing a two-piece swimsuit of bright roses seems rather innocuous.

 

•March 20, 2001 Reforma

La obra digital Our Lady (Nuestra Señora), de la artista méxico-estadounidense Alma López, ha generado molestia entre los visitantes a la muestra Ciberarte: Tradición vs. tecnología, que desde el 25 de febrero se presenta en el Museo de Arte Folclórico Internacional de Nuevo México, en Estados Unidos. -- Consideran 'blasfemia' obra guadalupana by Antonio Bertran

 

•March 22, 2001 Albuquerque Tribune

In Santa Fe this week, an international image of forgiveness and understanding has triggered a barrage of high-profile blame. --'Our Lady' art unrobes icon and unleashes parish protest By J.M. Barol

 

•March 24, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

The Virgin Mary has been depicted in contemporary art smeared with elephant dung, and she's been portrayed as a golden-haired Barbie doll. In the latest controversial image, this one in a Santa Fe museum, she appears in a floral bikini held aloft by a bare-breasted angel. --Catholics protest Our Lady's depiction By Anne Constable (Includes many Reader Opinion Statements)

 

•March 24, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

Alma Lopez is a Los Angeles visual and public artist. She grew up in northeast Los Angeles in a community named El Serreno. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1988 and a master's degree in fine arts from the University of California at Irvine in 1996. --Work not meant to offend, L.A. artist says By:Anne Constable

 

•March 26, 2001 www.archdiocesesantafe.org

To depict the Virgin Mary in a floral bikini held aloft by a bare breasted angel is to be insulting, even sacrilegious, to the many thousands of New Mexicans who have deep religious devotion to Guadalupe. -- Statement of Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan

 

•March 27, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

Alma López, a Los Angeles muralist and digital artist, plans to be in Santa Fe next week when the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regentsmeets to consider whether to remove her controversial bikini-clad image of the Virgin of Guadalupe from an exhibit at the Museum of International Folk Art. -- Artist López speaks on Virgin controversy By Anne Constable ( Includes many Reader Opinion Statements)

 

•March 28, 2001 Freedomforum.org

The Tennessee Arts Commission bans nude art at its gallery, but an anti-censorship group says the naked truth is that nudes have been a staple of Western art since ancient Greece. -Tennessee art gallery's no-nudes policy draws criticism By The Associated Press

 

• March 28, 2001 www.btconnect.com

Museum officials were due to meet next week to hear public comment on "Our Lady," a digital photograph that also includes a bare-breasted angel. The angel is holding up the Virgin Mary in a stance reminiscent of traditional pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe. -- New Mexico museum defends bikini-clad Virgin MaryBy Leslie Hoffman

 

•March 28, 2001 Indiaabroad.com

A New Mexico museum defended a depiction of a bikini-clad Virgin Mary, after the archbishop of Santa Fe added his voice to attacks from Roman Catholic activists against the artwork. -- New Mexico museum defends bikini-clad Virgin Mary By Leslie Hoffman

 

•March 28, 2001 New York Times

Compared with a photograph of a nude woman as Jesus at the Last Supper or a painting of the Virgin Mary with a dollop of elephant dung on her breast, a computerized photo collage of Our Lady of Guadalupe wearing a two-piece swimsuit of bright roses seems rather innocuous. -- Santa Fe Journal: Uproar over Virgin Mary in a Two-Piece Swimsuit By MICHAEL JANOFSKY

 

•March 28, 2001 www.pocho.com

Acclaimed Los Angeles-based visual artist Alma Lopez plans to be in Santa Fe April 4th when the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents meets to decide whether Lopez' piece, "Our Lady," will be removed from the Cyber Arte exhibit at the International Museum of Folk Art. -- Press Release by Raquel Gutierrez

 

•March 28, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

Museum of New Mexico Director Tom Wilson Tuesday made a spirited defense of the decision to include Our Lady, a bikini-clad depiction of the Virgin of Guadalupe, in a show at the Museum of International Folk Art. -- Museum director defends `Our Lady' By Anne Constable ( Includes many Reader Opinion Statements)

 

•March 29, 2001 www.thebulletonline.com

Despite demands by protesters and the archbishop of Santa Fe, a New Mexico museum defended its depiction of a bikini-clad Virgin Mary.  Museum officials plan to meet next week to hear public comment on “Our Lady,” a digital photograph that also includes a bare-breasted angel. 

 

•March 29, 2001 www.catholicleague.com

Local Catholics, led by Archbishop Michael Sheehan and parishioners from Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, have protested the depiction as “blasphemous.” -- SANTA FE MUSEUM OUTRAGES LOCAL CATHOLICS

 

•March 29, 2001 www.dailycatholic.org

Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe criticized the picture as "yet another trashing of Catholicism" that "shows the insensitivity to a large segment of Santa Feansand imprudence in the administration of a state funded institution. "In the recent past the Virgin Mary has been shown in contemporary art smeared with elephant dung and she has been depicted as a golden haired Barbie doll. Now this!" he said.

 

•April 1, 2001 www.americanreformation.org

Most recently, a museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico displayed a work by a woman named Alma Lopez who identifies herself as a Chicana lesbian.  It had Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is sacred to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, dressed in a floral bikini.  -- Desecration as Art by Roderick T. Beaman

 

•April 1, 2001 www.cbsnews.com

The regents of the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe on Wednesday began considering whether to remove the work from the state-funded Museum of International Folk Art, but ended up postponing the meeting because there was not enough room to hold everyone who wanted to comment. Museum officials said some 250 people were outside the standing-room-only meeting of about 300 and were unable to attend.--Bikini Brouhaha Over Mary Painting

 

•April 1, 2001 www.dazereader.com

The archbishop of Santa Fe says a bikini-clad version of the Virgin Mary shown in a folk art museum depicts her "as if she were a tart" and should be removed.

 

•April 1, 2001 www.thefileroom.org

Description of Incident: Our Lady provoked much protest from the Catholic community in Santa Fe. The Roman Catholic Archbishop, Michael Sheehan, claimed that the Virgin was depicted as a "tart," is sacrilegious to New Mexicans who have a deep religious devotion to Guadalupe, and should not be shown in a tax-supported museum. Reaction to the work was widespread and heated. A public meeting was held, drawing a crowd of just under 800 to hear an array of speakers and opinions.

 

•April 1, 2001 www.llano.net

The ridiculous claim by Catholics that Mary is the mother of God is outdone only by Lopez's artistic(?) (dis)abilities to paint Mary in a bikini as a cheap call girl.

 

•April 1, 2001 www.lasculturas.com

Thanks for the insight. Speaking for myself, I'd rather be respected than revered. If the majority of machos looked upon women as persons rather than property, perhaps we wouldn't need any "protecting"?

 

•April 1, 2001 www.ticinonews.ch

In un museo appare la Madonna in bikini. -- Polemica religiosa in America

 

•April 1, 2001 www.writewinger.com

Leo Higgins asks the question, why is picturing the Virgin Mary in a bikini not considered religious bigotry at its worse. -- Intolerant, but "PC" - What's the solution? How to confront a Hate Crime: Religious Bigotry in a Bikini By Leo Higgins

 

•April 2, 2001 www.about.com

Everyone knows of machismo, where men have to be virile men and nothing less will do. Less talked about is marianismo, the ideal image many have for women.-- Censoring Our Ladies. Does turning Guadalupe into a woman cross the line between sacred and profane? By Richard L. Vasquez

•April 3, 2001 www.cathtelecom.com

Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe has protested against the "trashing of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe" in a photo collage that depicts her dressed in a bikini made of roses and held up by a bare-breasted angel.

 

•April 3, 2001 Arizona Republic

The archbishop of Santa Fe says a bikini-clad version of the Virgin Mary shown in a folk art museum depicts her "as if she were a tart" and should be removed.Alma Lopez, the Los Angeles artist who designed the photo collage on a computer, says she doesn't see what's so offensive about showing the Virgin of Guadalupe as a modern woman, "a strong woman, like us." -- By Richard Benke, Associated Press

 

•April 4, 2001 www.assist-ministries.com

A highly controversial bikini-clad version of the Virgin Mary on display at a state museum has been described by its artist-a practicing Catholic -- as an expression of her personal faith. -- TROUBLE OVER BIKINI-CLAD VERSION OF THE VIRGIN MARY By Jeremy Reynalds

 

•April 4, 2001 www.artnet.com

In another story spurred by an indecent Virgin Mary, the Albuquerque Journal reports that Archbishop Michael Sheehan called for Our Lady by Alma Lopez to be removed from the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe.

 

•April 4, 2001 www.cbsnews.com

The archbishop of Santa Fe says a bikini-clad version of the Virgin Mary shown in a folk art museum depicts her "as if she were a tart" and should be removed. But Alma Lopez, the Los Angeles artist who designed the photo collage on a computer, says she doesn't see what's offensive about showing the Virgin of Guadalupe as a modern woman, "a strong woman, like us." -- Bikini Brouhaha Over Mary Painting

 

•April 4, 2001 Los Angeles Times

"Everyone seems to agree that this art is a flash point for a lot of other issues affecting the community," said Ice.--Depiction of the Virgin of Guadalupe Stirs Objections By HOLLIS WALKER

 

•April 4, 2001 Los Angeles Times

The state board of regents has not indicated that it will vote on calls for the picture to be removed, just that it wants to hear the rival views.--Tumult Ends New Mexico Hearing on Virgin Picture By LESLIE HOFFMAN

 

•April 4, 2001 www.nwcn.com

The archbishop of Santa Fe says a bikini-clad version of the Virgin Mary shown in a folk art museum depicts her "as if she were a tart" and should be removed. -- Bikini-clad Virgin Mary draws fire

 

•April 4, 2001 Albuquerque Tribune

Lopez is expected to speak today at the New Mexico Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe at a board of regents meeting, during which opponents and supporters will have a chance to voice their opinions about the controversial art piece, "Our Lady." - Artist defends 'Our Lady,' artistic vision By J.M. Barol

 

•April 5, 2001 Albuquerque Journal

Hundreds who were turned away from the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents forum Wednesday jammed the foyer outside, shouting, praying and pushing against museum security guards before erupting into whoops and song when regents called off the event. "Cancel the meeting, cancel the meeting," the crowd chanted, loud enough to be heard by the regents inside the building.-- Shouts, Shoves, Prayers Filled Museum Foyer By Jennifer McKee

 

•April 5, 2001 BBC News

A row over a picture of the Virgin Mary wearing a floral bikini has broken out in the US state of New Mexico. -- Bikini-clad Madonna sparks anger

 

•April 5, 2001 The Daytona Beach News Journal

"I don't believe I'm promoting censorship," Sheehan said. "My objection to the picture is not on the basis of morals, as if the bishop was disapproving of a particular movie ... My objection is on the basis of the insult to the religious beliefs of a very large number of people that look at the Virgin Mary as being very holy. She is depicted in a floral bikini as if she were a tart."

 

•April 5, 2001 Freedomforum.org

The archbishop of Santa Fe says a bikini-clad version of the Virgin Mary shown in a folk art museum depicts her "as if she were a tart" and should be removed. --N.M. museum considers removing collage of bikini-clad Virgin Mary By The Associated Press

 

•April 5, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Santa Monica artist Alma Lopez will have to wait a little longer to find out the next step in the controversy over her digital collage "Our Lady." --MORNING REPORT By SHAUNA SNOW

 

•April 5, 2001 www.lifegoeson.net

An angry crowd upset over an artwork depicting the Virgin Mary in a bikini forced New Mexico state museum officials to postpone a hearing called on Wednesday to address Catholic-led protests over the image. -- Tumult Ends Hearing on Virgin Picture By Leslie Hoffman

 

•April 5, 2001 http://satin.cx/mutant.html

Museum officials were due to meet next week to hear public comment on "Our Lady," a digital photograph that also includes a bare breasted angel. The angel is holding up the Virgin Mary in a stance reminiscent of traditional pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe. --Museum Defends Bikini-Clad Virgin Mary

 

•April 5, 2001 www.uniontrib.com

When regents of the Museum of New Mexico met to discuss a bikini-clad Virgin Mary collage, the discussion wasn't about sex or sacrilege. It was about seating. -- Museum board will reconvene to consider bikini-clad Virgin Mary artwork By Richard Benke

 

•April 6, 2001 www.loudcitizen.com

A Wednesday meeting of the regents of the Museum of New Mexico that would have decided the exhibit's fate was canceled after an overflow crowd caused concerns about fire safety. Regents will have to give 72 hours notice before rescheduling the meeting. -- Virgin Mary Hoopla by Jeremy Reynalds

 

•April 6, 2001 http://www.mississippicatholic.com/WorldBriefs/wb20010406.html

“To depict the Virgin Mary in a floral bikini held aloft by a bare-breasted angel is to be insulting, even sacrilegious, to the many thousands of New Mexicans who have deep religious devotion to Guadalupe,” Archbishop Sheehan said March 26.

 

•April 6, 2001 http://classic.sacbee.com

The archbishop of Santa Fe apparently feels strongly that clothes make a woman. He says a bikini-clad version of the Virgin Mary shown in a folk art museum depicts her "as if she were a tart" and should be removed.

 

•April 6, 2001 www.turkishdailynews.com

When regents of the Museum of New Mexico met to discuss a bikini-clad Virgin Mary collage, the discussion wasn't about sex or sacrilege. It was about seating. -- Museum board meets to consider bikini-clad Virgin Mary artwork By The Associated Press

 

•April 9, 2001 Freedomforum.org

An image of the Virgin of Guadalupe that some New Mexicans find offensive should remain on display at a state museum, Gov. Gary Johnson said late last week. -- N.M. governor: Bikini-clad Virgin Mary should stay on display By The Associated Press

 

•April 2002 www.chennaionline.com

This week's art controversy is a row over a bikini clad virgin Mary, a digital image on display at the museum of international folk art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Catholic activists and elders find it offensive for they feel it shows the Madonna as a tart. The artist, Alma Lopez finds the uproar all very puzzling; all she wanted to show was the Virgin Mary as a modern day woman.

 

•April 11, 2001 www.artnet.com

A near-riot by religiously inspired protestors caused the postponement of a community meeting called to discuss the controversial "Cyber Arte" exhibition at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, which includes Alma Lopez's digital depiction of a bikini-wearing Virgin Mary.

 

•April 12, 2001 The Providence Visitor

Anti-Catholicism has been called liberalism's anti-Semitism. With Alma Lopez's identification as a Chicana lesbian ("Sante Fe bishop says Guadalupe art 'sacrilegious,'" The Providence Visitor, April 5), just imagine where her political sympathies lie. -- Wrong to publicly fund sacrilegious art By Editor

 

•April 13, 2001 Albuquerque Tribune

Inside the sprawling Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe is a time bomb -- or so some people say. But on a recent quiet Tuesday afternoon, no one is holding signs, no one is shouting and pointing accusingly. Only a few people mill around the little room. Most are examining the less-controversial pieces of "Cyber Arte." By T.D. Mobley-Martinez

 

•April 13, 2001 www.ncac.org

A group of prominent free speech organizations are encouraging the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents to uphold principles of artistic freedom as they prepare to discuss the fate of a controversial work of art in the Museum of International Folk Art.-- Free Speech Groups Encourage New Mexico Museum to Respect Artistic Freedom

 

•April 13, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

The city and the Museum of New Mexico are going to great lengths to make it as easy as possible for people to voice their opinions about Our Lady, a controversial image of the Virgin of Guadalupe on display at the Museum of International Folk Art. -- City braces for 'Our Lady' talks

 

•April 14, 2001 Amarillo Net

Museum of New Mexico regents will listen - but not vote - when the public comments Monday on a bare-midriff image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that has touched off a pre-Easter furor. -- Large crowd expected to protest museum exhibit By Richard Benke

 

•April 14, 2001 Los Angeles Times

I think that the hubbub over Alma Lopez's artwork "Our Lady" at Santa Fe's Museum of International Folk Art is more revealing of the viewers' psychologies and proclivities than it is about the actual image of the Virgin Mary. --LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, JEANNE WYSHAK Professor, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles.

 

•April 14, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Lopez lacks not only talent but also artistic imagination. --LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, OLGA HAYEK, North Hollywood.

 

•April 14, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan's description of Lopez's Virgin as "a tart" and "a call girl" diminished his argument by reducing himself to the same level he seems to object to. -- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, ANA SERRANO, La Puente.

 

•April 14, 2001 Los Angeles Times

I don't mind the interpretation, but I resent passing it off as art. --LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, RUDY KOESLER, Sun Valley.

 

•April 15, 2001 Albuquerque Journal

The people demanding Alma Lopez's Virgin of Guadalupe be yanked off the walls of the Museum of International Folk Art would have you believe the Los Angeles artist has blazed a new trail in blasphemy by depicting Mary clad in a two-piece swimsuit. -- La Virgen Controversy Is An Old Fight By Leanne Potts

 

•April 16, 2001 Credo

A hearing planned by New Mexico state museum officials to discuss artwork depicting the Virgin Mary in a bikini was canceled by them on Wednesday after a large angry crowd showed up.

 

•April 17, 2001 Albuquerque Journal

In three-minute speeches, focus groups and group prayers, New Mexico residents broadcast their opinions Monday about a state museum exhibiting "Our Lady," an image of the Virgin Mary in a bathing suit of rose petals. -- 'Lady' Draws a Crowd By Morgan Lee

 

•April 17, 2001 www.artscope.net

OUR LADY, a digital photograph depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, is considered "offensive" by some members of the Catholic community who are asking that it be removed from an exhibition at the Museum of International Folk Art.

 

•April 17, 2001 Albuquerque Tribune

"I was at the first meeting and I was appalled by the power and anger it created," Kelly said. "I understand why people feel so passionate about it, but we're making such a big deal out of it. The thing is, it's not a masterpiece. It's all right, but it's not a masterpiece." -- Vehement feelings flow from orderly gathering By J.M. Baról

 

•April 17, 2001 www.artswire.org

OUR LADY, a digital photograph depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, is considered "offensive" by some members of the Catholic community who are asking that it be removed from an exhibition at the Museum of International Folk Art. -- OUR LADY BY ALMA LOPEZ TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY IN SANTA FE

 

•April 17, 2001 The Catholic Goldmine

An angry crowd upset over an artwork depicting the Virgin Mary in a bikini forced New Mexico state museum officials to postpone a hearing called Wednesday to address Catholic-led protests over the image. -- Tumult ends New Mexico hearing on Virgin picture  By Leslie Hoffman

 

•April 17, 2001 Catholic World News

A New Mexico museum said it will consider statements made at a public hearing on Monday and make a decision regarding a controversial photo collage that depicts the Our Lady of Guadalupe in bikini. -- New Mexico Museum Listens To Protests Over Mary Image

 

•April 17, 2001 The Holland Sentinel

The New Mexico case is intriguing because it tests the boundaries between art meant to invoke feelings of religious devotion and art meant to shed starkly disturbing light on ancient religious values.-- When art is repressed, we miss message By Bill Tammeus

 

•April 17, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Some people pleaded against censorship, but many more urged the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe to remove a bare-midriff depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe that they said was disrespectful and offensive. --Critics Slam Collage of Virgin in Bikini From Times Wire Reports

 

•April 17, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Virgin Mary Debate: Santa Fe Archbishop Michael Sheehan and other Roman Catholics on Monday urged the removal of a photo collage by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez from Santa Fe's state-run Museum of International Folk Art, saying the work depicted the Virgin Mary as "a tart."--MORNING REPORT By SHAUNA SNOW

 

•April 17, 2001 http://www.museum-security.org/01/087.html#4

Roman Catholics asked museum officials Monday to remove an image of a scantily clad Virgin Mary from a photo collage, but other members of the public asked them not to censor art. -- Museum Forum on Controversial Mary By RICHARD BENKE, Associated Press Writer

 

•April 17, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

Kimberly Rodriguez, 11, was supposed to be attending Chimayó Elementary School on Monday. Instead, she came to Santa Fe with her aunt, Lynn Martinez, and stood outside Sweeney Centerholding a sign saying, "Jesus teaches us purity and modesty, not nudity and vulgarity." -- The debate rages on By Anne Constable (Includes many Reader Opinion Statements)

 

•April 17, 2001 wildcat.arizona.edu

Some people pleaded against censorship, but many more urged the Museum of New Mexico yesterday to remove a bare-midriff depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe that they said was disrespectful and offensive. -- Museum regents hear comments on controversial collage By The Associated Press

 

•April 19, 2001 www.nmsantos.com

OUR LADY, a digital photograph depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, is considered "offensive" by some members of the Catholic community who are asking that it be removed from an exhibition at the Museum of International Folk Art. -- OUR LADY BY ALMA LOPEZ TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY IN SANTA FE

 

•April 20, 2001 Column of the Americas

Her body is beautiful, brown and strong like the earth. Yet, you can't get Raquel Salinas to say much about herself without causing her to choke up with emotion. -- THE BODY OF THE SACRED FEMININE By Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez

 

•April 23, 2001 www.aztlan.net

The tearing down of a Mexican national spiritual symbol is a political subversive act from the U.S. side of the border. Some Chicanos and Chicanas, because of the onslaught on our culture by the dominant majority, have been weakened morally and have lost the common sense of what is proper and good. -- Lesbians Insult "La Virgen de Guadalupe" By La Voz de Aztlan Editorial

 

•April 27, 2001 knmetv.org

Santa Fe has long been known as a center for the religious faithful in New Mexico as well as a center for art and artists from throughout the world. Now a small print, titled "Our Lady," hanging in a corner of the Museum of International Folk Art has much of New Mexico’s Catholic community, including the Archbishop of Santa Fe, calling on the state to remove the piece from exhibition. -- Episode 431: April 27, 2001* The Battle Over "Our Lady": Faith and Art Collide in Santa Fe

 

•April 27, 2001 San Francisco Gate

Lopez views her work as part of a long Chicana tradition. "I'm not the first at all to have done an image of the Virgen de Guadalupe and portrayed her a little differently. It goes back to the '60s and '70s," she said, referring to artists such as San Francisco-based Esther Hernandez and Yolanda Lopez. "Their work wasn't disrespectful and my work isn't either. It's not about knocking La Virgen's image as a mother but about showing alternative identities that illustrate more the lived realities of Chicanas." -- Some Like A Virgin, Some Don't: Alma Lopez generates controversy in New Mexico by Nancy Warren

 

•May 1, 2001 www.catholicleague.org

And it is precisely this group—those who knowingly provide false information—that is responsible for much of today’s Catholic bashing. This is especially true of artists. -- OUTING ARTISTS

 

•May 1, 2001 www.losangelesmission.com

A SANTA MONICA ARTIST has stirred a storm of protest for her depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a young Latina in the buff, according to an April 4 Los Angeles Times report.

 

•May 2, 2001 www.dreambikini.com

Catholic activists have described the digital collage, by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, as disgusting and insulting and said they want it removed. -- Bikini-clad Madonna sparks anger

 

•May 2, 2001 San Francisco Examiner

The Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents was overwhelmed Wednesday by a crowd estimated between 700 and 800 people who turned out to debate whether museum officials should remove a bare-midriff image of the Virgin Mary from the state Museum of International Folk Art. "In my wildest dreams, I never imagined 750 to 800 people would show up," said Wood "Mike" Arnold, president of the seven-member board. -- Bikini-clad Virgin Mary draws fire

 

•May 4, 2001 www.sojo.net

Archbishop Michael Sheehan weighed in with a statement criticizing the picture as "yet another trashing" of Catholicism" that "shows the insensitivity to a large segment of Santa Feans and imprudence in the administration of a state-funded institution."

 

•May 8, 2001 www.vbn2001.com

By now most of you have heard about the "Our Lady" controversy here in New Mexico. The International Museum of Folk Art in Santa Fe is exhibiting Cyber Arte with "computer-inspired work by contemporary Hispana/Chicana/Latina artists, all of who intentionally combine elements traditionally defined as 'folk' with current computer technology to create a new aesthetic." -- Emboldened NM Catholics Lash Out By Floyd Vasquez

 

•May 13, 2001 www.nljonline.com

Santa Fe Archbishop Michael Sheehan said the photograph shows insensitivity to a large segment of Santa Feans and a carelessness in the administration of a state-funded institution. A recent meeting by the museum’s regents to discuss the work was cancelled after 750 protesters showed up.

 

•May 16, 2001 New Mexico Independent

The furor over the digital image of the Lady of Guadalupe has extended far beyond the walls of the Museum of International Folk Art and the Santa Fe city limits. -- Artist opposes 'Bikini Virgin' By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola

 

•May 18, 2001 Column of the Americas

In the name of the Virgencita de Guadalupe ... I confess that I am a Guadalupana and a Buddhist. Bless me Guadalupe-Tonantzin, for I do not pray to you the way my mother does. I see you as the female face of sacred life, Grandmother Earth; the feminine presence of God, of Life, of Creation itself. -- LUPE AND THE BUDDHA By Patrisia Gonzales

 

•May 20, 2001 ttmhcg.com

Hôm 16.04.2001, tr??c nh?ng l?i ph?n ??i c?a ng??i Công Giáo t?i ti?u bang này và ? nh?ng n?i khác, H?i ??ng qu?n tr? vi?n b?o tàng ? ti?u bang New Mexico m? m?t cu?c ?i?u tr?n và s? có quy?t ??nh ??i v?i b?c hình c?a ngh? si˜ Alma Lopez mô t? <ETH>?c M? Guadalupe m?c ?? t?m 2 m?nh.-- PH?N <ETH>?I NH?O BÁNG HÌNH ?NH M? MARIA

 

•May 22, 2001 Adult Industry News

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery two-piece swimsuit will remain on display at a state-run museum despite protests from some Roman Catholics. -- Museum OK's Scantily Clad Virgin by: Deborah Baker

 

•May 22, 2001 www.archdiocesesantafe.org

Instead of showing her as the innocent Mother of Jesus, she is shown as a tart or a street woman, not the Mother of God! -- Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan on Our Lady of Guadalupe Portrayal

 

•May 22, 2001 Albuquerque Tribune

The Committee on Sensitive Materials recommended today that "Our Lady" by Los Angeles artist Alma L¢pez remain on display at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. The "Cyber Arte: Tradition Meets Technology" exhibit of which it is a part is to remain up until next February. --Committee on Sensitive Materials Disputed 'Our Lady' will stay, panel rules By Deborah Baker, The Associated Press

 

•May 22, 2001 www.courttv.com

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery two-piece swimsuit will remain on display at a state-run museum despite protests from some Roman Catholics. -- Scantily clad Virgin Mary image to remain on exhibit in New Mexico

 

•May 22, 2001 Catholic World News

A state-funded New Mexico museum has decided to leave a controversial collage depicting the Virgin Mary in a bikini on display despite objections from Catholics. -- Controversial Mary Collage Back On Display

 

•May 23, 2001 BBC News

A collage depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a floral bikini will stay on display despite protests from some Catholics. -- Bikini-clad Madonna escapes censors

 

• May 23, 2001 www.bettydodson.com

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery two-piece swimsuit will remain on display at a state-run museum despite protests from some Roman Catholics.

 

•May 23, 2001 EWTNews

A state-funded New Mexico museum has decided to leave a controversial collage depicting the Virgin Mary in a bikini on display despite objections from Catholics. -- EWTNews Brief CONTROVERSIAL MARY COLLAGE BACK ON DISPLAY

 

•May 23, 2001 Freedomforum.org

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery two-piece swimsuit will remain on display at a state-run museum despite protests from some Roman Catholics. -- N.M. museum to keep bikini-clad Virgin on exhibit By The Associated Press

 

•May 23, 2001 www.foxnews.com

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery swimsuit — a work both denounced as disrespectful and defended as free expression — will stay on the wall of a state-run museum. -- New Mexico Museum to Continue Display of Scantily Clad Virgin Mary

 

•May 23, 2001 Los Angeles Times

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery bikini--a work both denounced as disrespectful and defended as free expression--will stay at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. -- Bikini-Clad 'Our Lady' Will Remain on Display From Times Wire Reports

 

•May 23, 2001 http://www.museum-security.org/01/110.html#3

A collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in a flowery two-piece swimsuit will remain on display at a state-run museum despite protests from some Roman Catholics. --N.M. Museum Keeps Virgin Mary Image By DEBORAH BAKER, Associated Press Writer

 

•May 24, 2001 www.advocate.com

The bikini-clad image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Our Lady, a collage by lesbian artist Alma Lopez, will remain in the exhibit “Cyber Arte: Tradition Meets Technology,” according to the BBC. -- Bikini-clad Virgin of Guadalupe stays in N.M. exhibit

 

•May 24, 2001 www.nationalreview.com

The EWTN Catholic news site reports that despite protests, a controversial image of the Blessed Virgin Mary will remain on display in a museum in Santa Fe, N.M. The work in question is a collage by artist Alma Lopez, in which an attractive young woman in a floral bikini represents Mary. Stop Attacking Our Lady - A lovely image, and a misplaced protest. By Michael Potemra

 

•May 24, 2001 www.santafescene.com

My name is Luisa Martinez and I am originally from South America, my religion is catholic and it doesn't matter if I am a practicing catholic or not but I still respect the beliefs of others.

 

•May 25, 2001 Albuquerque Journal

In the wake of the decision to keep an image of a scantily clad Virgin Mary on display in Santa Fe through October, state museum officials now are promising to reconsider how they treat sensitive subjects, while local and national critics of the image are scheduling prayer vigils. -- 'Our Lady' Protests Planned By Morgan Lee

 

•May 25, 2001 http://www.ncac.org/issues/almalopezupdate.html

On May 23, 2001, the Museum of New Mexico Committee on Sensitive Materials recommended that the work remain on display. We congratulate the Committee's decision and applaud the Museum's responsible way of handling the controversy through public programming and discussions where all sides were able to express their positions. It is regretful, however, that as a compromise the duration of the whole exhibit was shortened by several months. We hope that this action will not set a pattern of compromise where the desire to avoid conflict trumps the right of artists to express unpopular ideas and the right of the audience to see challenging work.

 

•May 25, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

Georgia Carson is an Anglo and a relative newcomer to Santa Fe and belongs to a church that includes the cross but not statues and effigies in worship. None of these facts should determine whether she is qualified to be a docent at the Museum of New Mexico, Carson believes. And for the five years she has conducted tours of the Museum of International Folk Art her credentials have never been questioned. -- 'Our Lady' correspondence reveals rift By Anne Constable (Includes many Reader Opinion Statements)

 

•May 26, 2001 Online Athens

A museum committee recommended Tuesday that ''Our Lady,'' by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, continue on display at the Museum of International Folk Art. However, the entire exhibit of which it is a part will close earlier than previously scheduled. -- Museum backs exhibit with bikini-clad Virgin Mary Art protest By Deborah Baker , Associated Press

 

•May 27, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Her image of the Virgin has been called "a tart," but Alma Lopez sees only feminist strength. -- Our Lady of Controversy By Agustin Gurza

 

•May 27, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Tey Marianna Nunn hesitated--briefly--before including a semi-nude image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in an exhibition of some 30 digital works by four Latina artists at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M. What gave her pause, she says, were the bare breasts of the female angel holding up the modern Madonna clad in a floral bikini. -- Santa Fe Museum Offers Compromise

 

•May 27, 2001 New York Times

Southern California artist Alma Lopez says she doesn't understand why some people consider her representation of the Virgin Mary offensive. -- Artist Lopez Defends Work By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

•May 28, 2001 BBC News

The artist who depicted the Virgin of Guadalupe wearing a floral bikini has defended her work, saying she does not see anything wrong with it. -- Artist defends bikini-clad Madonna

 

•May 28, 2001 Southern Beaufort's Daily Newspaper

Southern California artist Alma Lopez says she doesn't understand why some people are bothered by her representation of the Virgin Mary. -- Artist Lopez defends computer collage of Virgin Mary By The Associated Press

 

•May 29, 2001 tvitimes.tvi.cc.nm.us

Southern California artist Alma Lopez says she doesn’t understand why some people consider her representation of the Virgin Mary offensive. -- Artist Lopez Defends Work

 

•June 2001 http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_6_89/ai_75496766

An art work depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe--the popular Hispanic image of the Virgin Mary--on view at the Museum of International Folk Art, a branch of Santa Fe's Museum of New Mexico, has stirred a heated local controversy comparable to the one caused by Chris Ofili's Madonna in the Brooklyn Museum's "Sensation" show two years ago [see "Front Page," Nov. '99]. --Santa Fe Madonna Sparks Firestorm - Brief Article Art in America, June, 2001 by Sarah S. King

 

•June 1, 2001 Carolina Messenger

Out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, comes the kind of story one just does not read about every day.1 On one side stands the Archbishop of Santa Fe and presumably some outraged New Mexicans. On the other side stands an LA artist, Alma Lopez. In the middle sit the regents of the Museum Of New Mexico because of what hangs on one of their walls. -- Mary In A Bikini?..... By Neal Pollard

 

•June 2001 Flash Art International

The protests around "Our Lady" reflect the difficulty of the U.S. proposition that Church and State be separate. When artists create a secularized image of a religious icon, which has supernatural meaning to a faith-based community, all hell can break loose. What is often meant as a positive reflection of contemporary society can be interpreted as overtly hostile and derogatory by the faithful.-- First Serrano, Then Ofili, Now Lopez - U.S. Struggle Between the Secular and the Sacred Continues By Clayton Campbell

 

•June 1, 2001 Los Angeles Times

Santa Monica artist Alma Lopez, whose semi-nude digital collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe remains a focus of protest in Santa Fe, N.M., is finding out that there is no such thing as bad PR. -- Virgin Uproar Prompts 2nd Show By Shauna Snow

 

•June 2001 www.gurlpages.com

JJ:Can you offer any advice to other striving artists ?
Alma: Be true to yourself.

 

•June 2, 2001 Albuquerque Journal

Alma Lopez, according to her friends and fellow artists, feared leaving her Los Angeles home for the opening Friday of "Las Malcriadas ... coloring out of the lines" at Emanations Studio Gallery in Santa Fe. -- 'Our Lady' Artist Supported By Joseph Ditzler

 

•June 4, 2001 www.aztlan.net

Contemporary Chicano art is increasingly manifesting the deep spiritual void that exists in Aztlan today. The trend among some Chicano artists to denigrate what Mexican culture considers holy is indicative of a loss of soul and of the quest to regain it. -- Chicanos in Search of their Souls By Hector Carreon

 

•June 6, 2001 VN Express

Tác ph?m này do ngh? si˜ Alma Lopez, s?ng t?i Los Angeles th?c hi?n t? nh?ng m?nh gi?y nh? và ???c dán l?i. T?ng Giám m?c Michael Sheehan t?c gi?n lên án ngh? si˜ ?ã phác h?a ??c m? nh? th? m?t “ph? n? h? h?ng”.

 

•June 6, 2001 www.udayton.edu

A phone interview with Museum Regent Frank V. Ortiz, who compared the exhibit to racial epithets and suggested Hispanic representation among docents is inadequate according to documents released by the Museum of New Mexico. Ortiz said his written comments were motivated by a widespread lack of appreciation for the museum's impact on traditional culture among local residents. Ortiz received both a call by museum volunteers for his resignation and a strong rebuke from top administrators.

 

•June 10, 2001 Los Angeles Times

I have a difficult time believing Alma Lopez's stated reasons for creating her so-called "feminist" version of Our Lady of Guadalupe ("Our Lady of Controversy," by Agustin Gurza, May 27). -- That Was No Lady by GABRIELA MAFI

 

•June 12, 2001 www.artscope.net

On May 22, 2001, the Museum of New Mexico Committee on Sensitive Materials recommended that OUR LADY -- a work by Los Angeles artists Alma Lopez which is included in the exhibition CYBER ARTE: WHERE TRADITION MEETS TECHNOLOGY at the Museum of International Folk Art -- remain on display.-- New Mexico Museum Committee Recommends That Alma Lopez's Our Lady Remain On Display

 

•June 12, 2001 www.artswire.org

The Committee recognized the right of members of the community to disagree with the Museum of International Folk Art's presentation, but it noted, among other points that "The Museum of International Folk Art selected the works in the Cyber Arte exhibition in the spirit of free exchange of ideas and mutual respect for various points of view. Under their agreement with the Museum of International Folk Art, the artists selected for inclusion in the exhibition have rights under the First Amendment to have their works displayed free of censorship or other interference." -- NEW MEXICO MUSEUM COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THAT ALMA LOPEZ'S OUR LADY REMAIN ON DISPLAY

 

•June 16, 2001 Albuquerque Journal

Critics of "Our Lady," an image of the Virgin Mary clothed in flower garlands, have appealed a decision by the Museum of New Mexico to keep the artwork on display. An appeal filed by Deacon Anthony Trujillo of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish asks the museum to remove the entire exhibit containing "Our Lady" and contends that the Museum of New Mexico violated its own policies by not considering the spiritual concerns of the Roman Catholic Community in northern New Mexico. -- 'Our Lady' Decision Appealed By Morgan Lee

 

•June 19, 2001 www.usatoday.com

A museum committee recommended Tuesday that "Our Lady," by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, continue on display at the Museum of International Folk Art. However, the entire exhibit of which it is a part will close earlier than previously scheduled.

 

•June 30, 2001 www.tfp.org

Nearly a thousand Catholics gathered and prayed in front of Santa Fe's Museum of International Folk Art to express their outrage at an exhibit they considered blasphemous. The June 30 rally centered on Alma Lopez's "Our Lady," an "art" display that has divided this New Mexican city for months. -- Catholics to Santa Fe Museum: Keep Blasphemy Out!

 

•June 30, 2001 www.tfp.org

Just when blasphemy is withdrawn from one place, it rears its ugly head in another. This time in New Mexico. -- Our Lady of Guadalupe Insulted, This Isn't Just Any Blasphemy!

 

•July 2001 http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_7_89/ai_76333037

The controversial "Santa Fe Madonna," source of an ongoing uproar in New Mexico, has escaped censorship, at least for the moment [see "Front Page," June '01]. --Santa Fe Madonna Resists Censors - Museum of International Folk Art - Brief Article Art in America, July, 2001 by Stephanie Cash, David Ebony

 

•July 1, 2001 http://www.losangelesmission.com/ed/news/0701news.htm

Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez's depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a naked young woman with only roses to cover her private parts continues. (For previous coverage, see the May 2001 Mission.) The center of the controversy, the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, decided on Tuesday, May 22, to allow Lopez's "Our Lady" to remain on display, though it announced that the exhibition in which the image is featured would end in October 2001 instead of February 2002, as had been originally planned.--THE CONTROVERSY OVER

 

•July 1, 2001 Los Angeles Times

 I find it interesting that there are plenty of well-regarded works of art featuring semi-nude or nude male religious figures (Michelangelo's David, numerous representations of Christ, etc.), yet when an artist chooses to represent a female religious figure with a bare belly, arms and legs, it is considered degrading and disrespectful. -- By SHEILA PECK

 

•July 1, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

About 400 people came to the state Museum of International Folk Art for Saturday morning's rally against Our Lady, Alma López's controversial digital collage. About 100 showed up Saturday afternoon to meet the Los Angeles artist at the closing reception for her show at the Emanations Studio Gallery. -- 400 protest 'Our Lady' By TOM SHARPE

 

•July 2, 2001 Amarillo Net

Hundreds of people gathered at the state Museum of International Folk Art on Saturday for the latest protest against a display that includes a digital collage portraying the Virgin of Guadalupe wearing a flowery bikini.-- Hundreds protest bikini-clad Virgin By The Associated Press

 

•July 2, 2001 www.roswell-record.com

Hundreds of people gathered at the state Museum of International Folk Art Saturday for the latest protest against a display that includes a digital collage portraying the Virgin of Guadalupe wearing a flowery bikini. -- Hundreds gather, protest art exhibit

 

•July 10, 2001 El Paso Times

Without freedom of expression, the United States would be impoverished -- a cultural wasteland in which the majority of the people could impose its taste on the rest of us. -- Freedoms collide in world of art By Robert Seltzer

 

•July 17, 2001 Albuquerque Journal

RE: LETTER IN which Archbishop Michael Sheehan was criticized for his opposition to the work "Our Lady" by Alma Lopez. According to the author of the letter, the archbishop was wrong for not seeing the piece as enlightening to Catholics, and was accused of being archaic in his thinking. --  Persecution Reveals True Disciples by FR. GUY ROBERTS, St. Patrick's-St Joseph's Church, Raton
   

•July 19, 2001 www.alibi.com

Alma Lopez is no practicing Catholic, at least not in her presentation of Catholicism. Does she have gender issues and a persecution complex? You bet. But don't blame it on Catholicism. -- Robert D. Martinez, Albuquerque

 

•July 19, 2001 Santa Fe New Mexican

The board that oversees state museums will not make a quick decision whether to remove a controversial image of the Virgin of Guadalupe from a museum wall, the new chairman says. That means the art work could remain on display until Oct. 28-when it's scheduled to be removed-without the board of regents ever deciding its fate. (Includes many Reader Opinion Statements)-- Regent chairman: no swift action on Virgin of Guadalupe By The Associated Press

 

•July 22, 2001 Albuquerque Journal
 Most of what he has made for this year's Spanish Market is in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He is doing that in response to the recent controversy over the Alma Lopez photo-collage of a scantily clad Virgin de Guadalupe at the Museum of International Folk Art. --Furniture maker and santero's greatest love is creating pieces for churches Story by David Steinberg Photographs by Rose Palmisano Of the Journal

 

•August 4, 2001 Rocky Mountain News

But the year has proved more exciting than officials expected. I was shocked when an acquaintance in Santa Fe called several months ago to talk about a controversy that had landed right on the museum's front door. Actually, right in its Hispanic Heritage Wing, where "Cyber Arte: Tradition Meets Technology" has stirred protests over an artist's depiction of the Virgin of Guadalupe. -- Voelz Chandler: Religion, art clash in Santa Fe By Mary Voelz Chandler

 

•October 2001 www.nyla.org

A large proportion of recent art controversies have focused on women artists. Is that coincidental? In our preoccupation with the present we often forget the historical continuity of what appear to be isolated incidents. -- More Women in Trouble - The Limits of Artistic Freedom: Women Artists and Censorchip

•October 3, 2001 www.canoe.ca

Critics of a collage showing the Virgin of Guadalupe with a bare midriff have asked a judge to order it taken off the wall of a state-run museum.  -- Bare midriff gets museum in trouble

 

•October 4, 2001 www.news-journalonline.com

Critics of a collage showing the Virgin of Guadalupe with a bare midriff have asked a judge to order it taken off the wall of a state-run museum. They contend officials didn't follow museum policies and state law when they decided to leave the work by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez hanging at the Museum of International Folk Art.

 

•October 8, 2001 www.augustachronicle.com

Critics of a collage showing the Virgin of Guadalupe with a bare midriff have asked a judge to order it taken off the wall of a state-run museum.

 

•October 11, 2001 BBC News

A controversial portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe wearing a floral bikini will remain on show after a US court refused to order a gallery to take it down. -- Bikini-clad Madonna can stay

 

•October 11, 2001 www.lanl.gov

Our program will focus on the rights individuals and institutions have under the first amendment to the constitution. We will then look at the specific situation at the Folk Art Museum. Dr. Joyce Ice the Director of the Folk Art Museum and Dr. Tom Wilson, Director of Museums for the State will talk about their decision to hang the exhibit and the compromise they made on the exhibit.

 

•November 28, 2001 www.nmhcpl.com

When the Folk Art Museum of New Mexico Director Tom Wilson, Dr. Joyce Ice and Tey Nunn decided to present the Bikini woman super-imposed on the Mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe , a chapel with an alter, candles, gift basket , tabernacle and kneeler, mocking the Spanish culture and Catholic church, members of HCPL and other organizations, voiced opposition, attended rallies, wrote letters and were present at the Legislative Finance Committee meeting in Santa Fe on November 28, 2001.-- Report on the Legislative Finance Committee Meeting by Conchita Lucero

 

•December 01, 2001 http://www.catholicleague.org

The Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, showed a photo collage by Alma Lopez that replaced the traditional image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a woman in a rose petal bikini; a bare-breasted woman appeared below her as a cherub. Local Catholics, led by Archbishop Michael Sheehan, protested. As more people learned of the artwork, which was part of an exhibition that started February 25, the controversy picked up, especially in the spring. Parishioners from Our Lady of Guadalupe were the most vocal. The artist argued that she was being victimized because she was Mexican, yet failed to explain why most of her critics were also Mexican. Archbishop Sheehan was branded by Bill Tammeus of the Kansas City Star as an example of an American Taliban. --Catholic League's 2001 Annual Report  on Anti-Catholicism 

 

•December 01, 2001 El Tecolote News

Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldua says that "Today, la Virgen de Guadalupe is the single most potent religious, political and cultural image of the Chicano/Mexicano. She, like my race, is a synthesis of the old-world and the new, of the religion and culture of the two races in our psyche, the conquerors and conquered." -- La Virgen de Guadalupe: The Light of La Raza By Chuy Valera

 

•December 01, 2001 http://www.ncac.org

A Selective Timeline of Censorship in the U.S.A. : Catholic groups in Santa Fe, New Mexico attack a computer-edited photo collage by Los Angeles artist Alma López. The Museum of New Mexico Committee on Sensitive Materials recommends that the work remain on display but shortens the duration of the whole exhibit.

 

•February 17, 2002 Albuquerque Journal

It is to be hoped that District Court Judge James Hall's recent approval of a court order proclaiming a museum committee to have been in violation of the Open Meetings Act by not holding hearings prior to displaying Alma Lopez's image of the Virgin of Guadalupe will not stand up to rigorous challenge. It is a bad ruling and unworkable as either public or administrative policy.-- 'Our Lady' Court Order Hogties Art Museums by Peter Eller, Art Appraiser and Writer

 

•February 17, 2002 Albuquerque Journal

When is an image a religious symbol and when is it a secular cultural icon? -- Warring Uses Clash Over Symbols by Bill Hume, Editorial Page Editor

 

•February 18, 2002 www.americamagazine.org

The Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M., displayed a photo collage by Alma Lopez that replaced the traditional image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a woman in a rose-petal bikini; a bare-breasted woman appeared below her as a cherub. --The Ten Worst Anti-Catholic Atrocities of 2001 By William A Donohue

 

•February 27, 2002 Albuquerque Journal

A state museum committee was subject to the state Open Meetings Act, but the curator's work was not, according to a final court order dismissing a request to remove a controversial exhibit from the state Museum of International Folk Art. -- 'Our Lady' Opponents Receive Mixed Ruling By Morgan Lee, Journal Staff Writer

 

•June 28, 2002 Denver Post

Last year, Mexican-born artist Alma Lopez exhibited a bikini-clad Virgin of Guadalupe in a Santa Fe museum. The digital image, which the artist said modernized the virgin, ignited furious protests and a lawsuit demanding its removal-- Canonization affirms faith of fervent Mexicans By Michael Riley

 

•August 12, 2002 New Civilization Network

A year and a half ago, a Los Angeles based computer graphics artist was part of a four person show at the New Mexico State Museum of International Folk Art. One of her pictures was a re-imaging of the traditional humble, prayerful Mother, as a proud young woman with her head held high, arms akimbo, wearing a sumptuous garland of roses around her breasts and a full covering of roses around her womanhood, in the manner of those old two piece bathing suits from the 50s. Nothing disrespectful to her womanhood, just a proud young woman. Some members of the traditional Catholic community were seriously offended. There were demonstrations and meetings, demands for removal of the offending images, and counterdemands for the rights of free speech.

 

•September 13, 2002 www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Artists frequently test society's standards of decency with works that outrage people. Society, or parts of it, may respond with harsh criticism and scorn. Artists are free to outrage people, and people are free to be outraged, but First Amendment issues may arise when art is publicly funded. Must the public, through the taxes it pays, subsidize art that offends people? -- Public Funding of Controversial Art By Kyonzte Hughes

 

•October 31, 2002 New Mexican

The candidates were asked about how they would have handled the Our Lady of Guadalupe controversy last year, when many Catholics protested an artwork on display at the state Museum of International Folk Art that depicted the Virgin clad only in flowers.

 

• November 2002 Smithsonian Center for Latino Studies

My original curatorial intent in putting together the Cyber Arte exhibition was to highlight the Hispanic and Latina/o arts and cultural presence on the World Wide Web.--The Cyber Arte Exhibition: A Curator's Journey Through Community and Controversy by Tey Marianna Nunn, Ph.D

 

•November 01, 2002 The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property

“Accept that you are not going to win. There is no win in such a controversy. You're just going to survive. Those are the facts. It's not pretty, but those are the facts.” Such was the counsel of journalist Hollis Walker to museum directors and curators regarding protests against blasphemous art. Her comments run quite contrary to what protesters are frequently led to believe. -- Are Protests Against Blasphemy Effective? The Other Side Speaks by John Horvat

 

•December 2002 http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~mckelvy/

In looking at the incident in Santa Fe it is easy to write it off as another contesting of the First Amendment. Yet the incident was so much more-for the Hispanics who protested the art it was a contest against a set of cultural beliefs that were in conflict with their own, that of the Chicanas. --Hell Breaks Loose Over an Unholy Image of the Virgin Mary by Badamo

•2003 Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives

When the exhibition Cyber Arte: Tradition meets Technology opened at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe on February 25th, 2001, a tremendous amount of press had already been written in such publications as American Art, Art and Antiques, Hispanic Magazine, and the Santa Fe New Mexican. -- Tey Marianna Nunn, Ph.D, The Cyber Arte Exhibition: A Curator’s Journey Through Community and Controversy

 

•Spring 2003 La Gente de Aztlan, UCLA

A number of contemporary, Chicana and Mexican feminist writers and artists have adopted this new Virgen. As they do so we see how La Virgen's power and influence has maintained through time and how she continues to revolutionize our communities. -- Know Your Revolucionaria: Virgen de Guadalupe

 

•February 22, 2003 http://www.geocities.com/prakashjm45/catamite.html

Protesters had said the digital image of Mexico's national representation of the Virgin Mary was offensive and insensitive after it went on show in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in February. But a judge has decided that the city's Museum of International Folk Art can keep the picture, by Mexican-born Alma Lopez, on its walls because of a legal technicality. Alma Lopez says the picture shows a strong woman The image will now be on view until the end of October - a date that was set as a compromise by the museum in May.--Defending Our Lady Against Blasphemy

 

•May 20, 2003 First Amendment Center

It has been more than two years since a Roman Catholic outcry over Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez's digital collage of the Virgin of Guadalupe clad in flower petals with a bare midriff. The chilling effect is still felt in Santa Fe, where officials at state-run museums say pressures not to offend viewers have been acute since the "Our Lady" controversy. -- 'Our Lady' controversy still chills Santa Fe museums By The Associated Press

 

•June 2003 The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property

It seems Alma Lopez is at it again. -- Rekindling the Controversy by American TFP

 

• August 2003 www.readraza.com

One woman asks the most persistent protestor What's wrong with that, wasn't Mary a woman? The protestor refuses an answer, shaking her short coiff and repeats her mantra, Don't blaspheme our Lady --Self Help Graphics Sale

• Summer 2003 El Andar

For nine months, the digital image hung at the New Mexico Museum of Folk Art, and some impassionate objectors would have Alma hung right next to it if given the chance. How dare she desecrate a sacred image? What right she had to appropriate this image that wasn’t hers? --Ana Rojo, El Andar

 

•November 30, 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com

When the artist Alma Lopez was criticized for an image that showed the Virgin of Guadalupe as a sexually attractive young Latina (decorously covered with flower garlands), one might think she had taken huge liberties with a sacred image. But Meyer has done his homework, and demonstrated for the Renwick audience that Lopez's digital collage is not a terribly radical departure from a long and rich tradition of Virgin imagery. There's the Virgin painted on a hot rod. There's the Virgin on a matchbook cover. There's the Virgin used as part of an advertisement for a psychic. Despite the cheapening and vulgarity of those representations, they are still deemed religiously respectful. But a woman artist representing the Virgin as sexually attractive is instantly read as sacrilegious. --'Gay' Art: Dolled Up and Still Dressed Down By Philip Kennicott, Washington Post Staff Writer

 

•May 2004 http://joff3md.tripod.com/religious.html

However, what happens when art is produced to deliberately shock or demean one's religious beliefs? Does it still qualify as art?

 

•May 24, 2004 http://www.aztrib.com

Wilson said Chicano art is able to bridge ethnic barriers and evoke a range of emotions and thoughts. Two years ago, when he was director of the Museum of New Mexico, Wilson witnessed the power of Hispanic art. "Our Lady," an image of the Virgin Mary by Los Angeles artist Alma Lopez, had sparked public outrage at a state-run museum in Sante Fe. Lopez's "Our Lady" was a digital photograph of a woman wearing a bikini-style outfit set in the traditional imagery of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Lopez's virgin - head raised and hands on hips - projected the power of womanhood. Wilson rejected demands from the Catholic Church and Hispanic New Mexico lawmakers to remove it.--Museum highlights Chicano art By Jason Emerson, Tribune

 

•August 2004 www.tfp.org

Contrary to what many artists claim, protesting against offensive art is never free publicity. Few things hurt the arts community more than when it produces works that lose touch with its supporting community. --The Santa Fe Chill: How Protests Make Blasphemy Unwelcome by John Horvat, II

 

•August 2004 www.dazereader.com

Found via my referrer logs: Mexican fascists do not like Daze Reader and the decadent, highly offensive, abominable, sexually deviant art occasionally promoted herein.

 

•August 1, 2004 www.aztlan.net

Our news publication, La Voz de Aztlan, has received your press release concerning the planned exhibit "The Virgin of Guadalupe: Interpreting Devotion" to open on August 28. Your press release mentions that as part of the exhibit, you will be including the highly offensive "Guadalupe in a Bikini" by the decadent lesbian artist Alma Lopez. OPEN LETTER by Ernesto Cienfuegos, Editor in Chief, La Voz de Aztlan

 

•August 3, 2004 www.aztlan.net

La Voz de Aztlan has received communications from the Director of the Fullerton Museum Center at Fullerton, California that they will not be exhibiting the highly sacrilegious image of "Guadalupe in a Bikini" by the lesbian artist Alma Lopez. Mr. Joe Felz wrote our publication that the museum will instead exhibit "Maria de Los Angeles", by the same artist, as part of their upcoming "The Virgin of Guadalupe: Interpreting Devotion" exhibit that will open on August 28. by Ernesto Cienfuegos, Editor in Chief, La Voz de Aztlan

 

•LA VOZ DE AZTLAN

 

• August 5, 2004 www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/museum/guadalupe.html

Rather than correcting his inaccurate article, Mr. Cienfuegos instead published a follow-up piece Aug. 3 which implied that, based on the information that he provided us, the "Lady" piece had been removed, and the Museum would "instead" exhibit "Maria de Los Angeles." Again, this is a completely inaccurate statement on his part as the "Lady" piece was never considered for this exhibit. By Joe Felz, Director, Fullerton Museum Center

 

•August 5, 2004 www.ashleyb.org

Now, beyond my penchant for the intersection between the sacred and the profane in Catholic iconography and my belief in freedom of expression, if something is sacred that is a Catholic woman's right to explore the weight and meaning of the Madonna on her life and culture.

 

•August 6, 2004 www.ashleyb.org

"The first article (in 'La Voz de Aztlan'), written in the form of an open letter to me, alleged the Museum's press release stated the exhibit would contain an artwork by Alma Lopez which the writer called "Guadalupe in a Bikini" (The actual title of the work in question, according to Ms. Lopez, is "Our Lady.") The writer protested what he said was the inclusion of this artwork in our exhibit.

 

•August 20, 2004 www.ocweekly.com

The controversy started on Aug. 1, when Ernesto Cienfuegos, editor of the Chicano nationalist website La Voz de Aztlan (www.aztlan.net), attacked Fullerton Museum Center Director Joe Felz for including "decadent lesbian artist" Alma Lopez in a exhibition titled "The Virgin of Guadalupe: Interpreting Devotion." --Nuestra Senora de Censorship:Who says the Virgin of Guadalupe can't be sexy? by Gustavo Arellano and Raymond Beltran

 

•August 21, 2004 http://listserve.santarosa.edu

Ironically, when the original Our Lady of Guadalupe was first cast into the cloak through supposed divine intervention, it was at the epitome of Christian controversy. --New Art by Robert DeMartini

 

•August 21, 2004 http://paxnortona.notfrisco2.com

Aside from the blatant homophobia, the trouble with Cienfuegos attack on the exhibit was that Lopez's Our Lady was not the Lopez piece chosen for the exhibit.

 

•August 22, 2004 www.dazereader.com

Orange County Weekly covers the controversy over Our Lady by Alma Lopez and its rumored appearance at Fullerton Museum Center. Three weeks ago, the far-right Chicano nationalist website Aztlan.net complained that the museum planned to exhibit Lopez's "sexually deviant" artwork (discussed here). The museum's director insists that Aztlan was mistaken -Our Lady was never part of the exhibition - and that the museum has safeguards to prevent offensive art from display. Not exactly a resounding defense of artistic integrity in the face of ideological fanaticism.

 

•August 25, 2004 www.ocweekly.com

Joe's letter is laden with inaccuracies, but one of them stands out: his claim that Our Lady was never considered for the exhibit is something only the most credulous could accept. It raises (yet again) the question of censorship and, maybe (let me say this gently), curatorial judgment: I mean, really, why not even consider showing what is arguably the most famous reinterpretation of the Virgin of Guadalupe?

 

•September 3, 2004 www.ocweekly.com

It's funny that conservative Catholics and other assorted Latinos get so up in arms over the depiction of Alma Lopez's Virgin [Gustavo Arellano's "Nuestra Senora de Censorship," Aug. 20]. They don't mind if she is painted on the side of liquor stores or on skateboards, telephone cards and - one of my favorites - fingernail clippers

 

• November 2004 www.artpapers.org

Although Lopez sought an updated but still beatified Virgin in Our Lady, its detractors saw just the opposite. Jose Villegas, a Catholic parishioner who helped spearhead the protest against Our Lady, said, "I see the devil, I don't see our Blessed Mother. I'm 42 years old and I never have and never will see her in a bikini." -- AFTER THE CULTURE WARS: Censorship works best when no one knows it's happening by Richard Meyer

• 2005 Sage Publications

Because of journalistic practices that wait for officials or major players to raise issues before doing stories on them in order to claim ‘objectivity’, newspaper coverage left many underlying issues surrounding the controversy largely unexamined. -- Kevin Dolan, Blinded by "objectivity"

•January 19, 2008 The Santa Fe New Mexican

Seven years ago next month, a digital print of the Virgin of Guadalupe garbed in a modest costume fashioned from pink, white and yellow roses, set off an emotional protest that bitterly divided the community.-- Anne Constable, Seven years on, discussion over 'Our Lady' is ongoing

 

•February 20, 2008 The Feminist Texican Blog

We’re all familiar with the iconic Virgen de Guadalupe imagery, right?

•March 22, 2008 Feminist Studies, Inc.

A critical essay by Guisela Latorre titled "Icons of Love and Devotion: Alma Lopez's Art"

 

•July 26, 2008 The Santa Fe New Mexican

A push for a shrine to Our Lady, begun in 2001, ends with a pilgrimage to Mexico and a new landmark in Santa Fe -- Anne Constable | Journey of devotion

 

•January 18, 2009 Marie's Santa Fe Living Mag

I'm neither Chicana nor Latina, Loudmouth nor Bigmouth, and least of all a feminist, which is what the artists in this show were being touted to be.