Dear Friends of the Arts,
I know we don't chat too often, but I'd like to change that. See, there's this bully in town and he's been pestering my friend. It didn't start out this way -- I guess it never does. Initially I thought MT and Nash would get along; they shared a love of the arts and the desire to make it accessible to the community. But then MT hit a growth spurt and got a little to big for its britches. 21 stories too big, if you ask me.
Also, it did that thing that folks do when they get a lot of money: it got all... flashy. First, it used its size to ruin Turrell, who had always been a stand-up guy. People went to him when they felt a little lost, a little out of sorts, and he had that rare ability to calm them. It's a quality you don't encounter all that often and one that I admire greatly. Now, he's gone.
Picasso got sick of the swagger, knowing that if he kept kicking it with Nash and had to face MT's wrathful glare every day, he'd wind up in an early grave. Nash then tried reasoning with his oppressor; he suggested that MT turn his life around. The plea fell on deaf ears. Nash took his issue to an adult: the principal down at City Hall. No help there, either. Telling the bullied and the powerful to work it out between themselves has never solved anything; it only aggravates a situation.
Since Nash is running out of options and using its lunch money for protection from MT, isn't it time we got involved? I'm tired of losing friends over this bravado, this power play. There should be a little rebellion on our part. A time to come together and tell MT exactly what we will not stand for.
How about a tan-in? Think "sit-in" facing the tower. Just a couple hundred concerned friends in beach attire allowing their skin to pigment at a hyper-accelerated rate for one afternoon in the Nasher's sculpture garden. If MT says it's no big deal -- that art can take it -- what will it say to 200 sunburns caused by its reflective glare? If left up to MT and his burly buddies this situation will never reach an acceptable resolution, so I think we as a community need to stand up for our friends. Our art.
You know the best way to stop a bully, right? Kick 'em right in the sweet spot: his public reputation.
