'It feels like censorship': Native artists question motives behind Mesa's postponement of exhibit

Two well known Indigenous artists who have had painted street art and murals across metro Phoenix, the state and beyond are mystified at the abrupt postponement of an art exhibit at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum.

Anyone who has walked or driven in parts of Phoenix has likely seen a mural created by Tohono O'odham artist Thomas “Breeze” Marcus. And in Colorado, at the Denver Art Museum, visitors will see the pieces that were showcased at Phoenix Art Museum created by San Carlos Apache artist Douglas Miles.

Both Marcus and Miles, along with world-renowned artists Swoon and Shepard Fairey, were slated to have an exhibit opening Sept. 8 at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. Marcus and Miles were approached as far back as 2019 about taking part in the exhibit, and Marcus worked for about a year to create the art he would showcase.

But with a little more than a month until the exhibit’s planned opening, both artists received an email from Natalie Lewis, Mesa’s deputy city manager, informing them the exhibit was postponed due to unspecified issues that needed to be finalized.

A city spokesperson told The Republic there were concerns that some text elements in one of the works might be disparaging toward city employees. The spokesperson did not specify which work or artist had created the concerns. The artists said the city owes them a better explanation.

“The planning for these exhibits has been in the works for almost five years,” Marcus said. “In the last year I spent working specifically on an entire body of work. The city basically said there were issues, they didn’t clarify as to what, and the city made the decision to step in.”

A cultural arts advocacy group and the ACLU have sent the city a letter on behalf of the artists, raising free-speech issues and suggesting the decision to postpone the exhibition was a response to the content of the art, which the letter said could create First Amendment concerns.

In the email sent to the artists July 28, Lewis wrote that elements of the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum's exhibitions still had to be finalized, and postponing entirely was the solution they chose. She also said the museum will be using the space to celebrate the city’s recent All-American City award instead.

“By delaying the exhibition, we have more time to work out details with you and others and to ensure the quality of experience our community deserves and has come to expect,” wrote Lewis. “In the meantime, we will be repurposing the space during this time for another high community priority, celebrating our recently awarded designation as an All-America City. Mesa’s last recognition like this was 44 years ago, so this recognition is a priority for us at this time.”

Marcus said they have not heard from the museum since the email arrived. No new date was provided. To Marcus and Miles, the postponement seemed peculiar, especially since up to that point, Marcus said, everyone he was talking with at the museum had been professional and helpful.

“It sounds like there's more to it because the excuse they gave didn't seem like it made sense,” Marcus said. “It feels like censorship. I can't speak to what is going on, but it is a feeling.”

Miles was more blunt.

“I feel it's not only censorship, I feel it’s very anti-Native,” Miles said. “I feel it's very disingenuous to remove two very outspoken Native artists who have worked for decades in the community, outside the community, in the state where we've done a lot of work together. Apparently, none of the work we have done in this community means anything to the city of Mesa or Mesa Arts Center. I feel they canceled and removed the show on purpose and it's disrespectful and unprofessional.”

Just a few months ago, Miles and Apache Skateboard, the Native-owned skateboard company he founded in 2002, had their own exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. It was an amazing experience, Miles said, and the show is now at the Denver Art Museum, where he said officials are transparent and professional.

Along with Apache Skateboard, Douglas has collaborated with Red Bull, Smart Water, and Verizon among other companies and has appeared on "The Today Show." To have this kind of experience with Mesa has left Miles dumbfounded.

“So for me, for this to happen in this day and age doesn’t make sense,” Miles said. “It’s just a high level of unprofessionalism.”

The artwork that was created

To see the work of Marcus, walk downtown Phoenix near Cartel Coffee shop, where he has painted murals on the buildings, among many spots that showcase his work throughout the city. Having produced other exhibits in the past, Marcus said this is the first time he has experienced such treatment from a museum.

The work he had taken nearly a year to make for this exhibit was going to be titled “Shapeshifter.”

“The body of work was all created to fit specifically in the space they gave me,” Marcus said. “That’s a lot of time and energy just for the planning phase. The pieces were going to be 10 large paintings, along with an installation of contemporary hand-carved masks made from dry boards, as well as a mural installation.”

Each of the 10 paintings was going to be about various events from personal and current issues, such as the fentanyl epidemic, alcoholism in Native communities, and one piece was going to speak to geopolitics and the effect of the U.S.-Mexican border on the Tohono O'odham people.

“No one from the museum officially has reached out,” Marcus said.

Miles, who lives in San Carlos, worked with the largest canvas he had ever painted on for this exhibit, measuring 12 feet by 19 feet. To create his piece, he had to live in Phoenix and work at the Ice House, a venue in downtown Phoenix, and work on his art without air conditioning during what was the hottest month ever recorded.

“I was planning, I had painted, and I had saved money and purchased very large canvases and these are costly,” Miles said. “I’ve never painted a canvas that big. I have painted walls but that’s different, that's an outdoor mural. An actual canvas, it was a monumental piece for me. It really is and was a significant work for me to create for their show.”

Other artists were part of the exhibit

It isn’t lost on Miles and Marcus how much of a draw this exhibit would’ve been, not only because of their pieces, but because of Swoon and Shepard Fairey. These two artists aren't from Arizona, but their work is well known all over the world.

Shepard Fairey’s most prominent work of art is his iconic 2008 “Hope” poster depicting then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. All four artists are known for their outspokenness on social justice issues, and to cancel a show with two such high caliber artists has baffled Miles and Marcus.

“Those artists are probably two of the most acclaimed street artists in the world,” Miles said. “Swoon and Shepard Fairey’s reputation really proceeds them, they've had numerous shows around the world, across the country, they’ve been published many times. We were excited to have our pieces shown alongside theirs."

The Republic asked the city and the museum to clarify which aspects of the show led to the postponement, whether postponement was the only option and whether the decisions were seen by officials as a form of censorship or as anti-Native American, as the artists suggested.

In response to the questions, Ana Pereira, communications director for Mesa, sent an emailed statement.

"Art has a purpose in Mesa. As a government organization directly invested in art facilities and public programming, our priority and responsibility are to provide all patrons with enriching experiences in our art spaces — just as we do for all public facilities."

Pereira said six weeks before the opening of the fall exhibits at the museum, the artists' contracts had not yet been finalized. Questions also remained about text elements in one of the works that Pereira said "could be disparaging toward some city of Mesa employees." Postponing the exhibit would allow the city to review its processes and evaluate the message associated with the display.

"Our practice is to review the displays in all our public buildings, and as a taxpayer-funded facility, MCAM shouldn’t be the exception," Pereira said. "We recognize the impact of the postponement. The city immediately emailed artists and followed up with telephone calls — when phone numbers were available — to personally inform them of the decision and minimize this inconvenience in any way possible. It is our intent to bring the artists back and reschedule them as part of a group exhibition or solo exhibition in the future if so desired."

The National Coalition Against Censorship, through its Arts and Culture Advocacy Program, and the ACLU of Arizona wrote a letter to Lewis and Mesa City Manager Chris Brady Lewis expressing their concern over the postponement of the exhibit in favor of the yearlong All-American Award display, and said it raises serious First Amendment concerns.

"The sudden suspension of all scheduled exhibitions in favor of a year-long project celebrating Mesa as an 'All American City' underlines a determination by government officials to avoid all controversial art," the letter said. "We urge you to revert to the vibrant schedule of exhibitions that were originally planned, and recognize the City’s duty to uphold freedom of artistic expression."

The letter suggested that the postponement of the entire exhibition season at the Mesa Arts Center is due to the city’s requests to censor an artwork created by Fairey that was seen as critical of police brutality.

This specific exhibition is titled "Three Decades of Dissent," and is a traveling exhibition of work by Fairey. The poster in question depicts a skeletal police officer in riot gear holding a large flower. City representatives said they didn’t want to offend municipal police officers, the letter claimed.

"In an agit-prop style typical of the artist, the exhibition features silk screened posters espousing views critical of the military industrial complex, government corruption, and police brutality, while celebrating themes of grassroots resistance, racial equality, and immigrants’ rights," stated the letter.

Government-run agencies may determine what arts projects to fund and display, but their First Amendment obligations explicitly prevent them from denying projects with messages they dislike while permitting those they support. Efforts to prevent the display of an artwork because it might cause offense does not justify censorship, the letter said, noting that in an era of intense political polarization, many artworks may be offensive to someone’s viewpoint.

Miles is still unsatisfied.

“I feel we not only deserve an apology, we also deserve a large retrospective show," he said. "The Mesa museum should also offer to purchase a significant work of art from us because of the hundreds of hours we put into preparations, and the thousands of dollars that we spent to prepare works of art, original and all new for their venue. If they don't offer that type of compensation, olive branch, peace offer, then it shows they do not care for art and Native artists.”

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Arlyssa Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Native artists say Mesa museum scrapped an exhibit with no reason