Accomplished author and journalist Debbie Nathan has summoned some damning emails from the City of El Paso’s handling of artist Margarita Cabrera’s sculpture on Country Club Drive. You know, that art piece that the city tore down.
According to the emails that Ms. Nathan received via the Texas Public Information Act, the sculpture was destroyed after the Love Road Neighborhood Association complained about the artwork to City Representative Cortney Niland, who emailed City Manager Tommy Gonzalez, who ordered Museum and Cultural Affairs Department head Tracey Jerome to have it removed “asap.”
Previous emails indicate that Ms. Cabrera did inform the Project Manager that she would be including gun parts in the sculpture. That information seems to not have filtered up.
Ms. Nathan has it all laid out at the Chucopedia page on Facebook.
I suspect there was a lot of communication that wasn’t documented via email. Ms. Niland probably reminded Mr. Gonzalez that she was in a battle for re-election, and that every vote counted.
I’m reminded of the lawsuit filed by the Three Legged Monkey, after they were forced out of their location by the City at the behest of the Cielo Vista Neighborhood Association. That lawsuit was recently settled in Executive Session, wasn’t it?
The current saga brings to light some significant issues. First, did the City remove the artwork because they believed the content or execution was too political? Did they censor it? With a bulldozer? Second, isn’t there someone at the El Paso Times who should cover, and uncover, stories like this? Is Facebook the future of journalism?
Woe are us, fellow citizens. Woe are us.