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Nude Drawings Cause Stir in Freedom Township
Ann Arbor News ^ | 9/13/02 | Marianne Rzepka

Posted on 09/13/2002 12:12:49 PM PDT by marshmallow

A Freedom Township artist is finding out how much freedom he has to display his art.

A State Police trooper asked Brian Ferriby to remove his drawings of nudes from the front windows of his Pleasant Lake Road workshop after a resident called them offensive. So far, the artist has left them up.

Township Supervisor Robert C. Little said he has heard "a couple" of complaints about the artwork. "There's a school bus that loads and unloads children right across the street," said Little, "and for our area, (the nudes) are inappropriate." The supervisor said he hasn't talked to Ferriby yet, but he intends to.

Ferriby feels he should take a stand. "I don't know where it would end," he said. "Would I be able to display any kind of art again?"

Except for the trooper's call to Ferriby, the issue hasn't made it onto the local law enforcement system's radar screen. State Police Lt. Beth Moranty, head of the Ypsilanti Post, was unaware of it.

Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie said he doubts it would get as far as his office. "When something is presented to us, we will deal with it," he said.

The township's not thinking of attempting any legal action, said Little: "We talk to people and try to get them to cooperate."

Ferriby, who makes his living by constructing metal furniture, recently moved his workshop to the little hamlet on Pleasant Lake Road next to the Freedonia Grocery and across from the Township Hall. "The people are real nice," he said. "They wave to you when they go by."

Ferriby plans to open a gallery in the space, so he thought that by displaying some of his own artwork in the window, people would get used to the idea.

In one window are two line drawings of a nude woman. In another window is a nude drawing, an abstract painting, two small sculptures and a painting of two women, one of whom is touching the other's breast with her pointing finger.

Ferriby said he was taking off from the painting of the creation on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. "I was just having a bit of fun," he said.

Then on Wednesday, when he was at his parents' Farmington Hills home, he got a 7 a.m. call from the trooper, who told him about the complaint.

Ferriby said that according to the trooper, the woman "was really angry and irate. She felt she couldn't walk in front of the building with her children." The trooper could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The trooper asked if Ferriby could take the art out of the window. "At the time, I thought, 'This is a reasonable request,"' Ferriby said.

Later, the woman who owns the building, Lori Frederick, told him Little meant to talk to him about the artwork.

"All of a sudden, I'm feeling all this pressure," said Ferriby. "It doesn't seem they're asking me. It's like, 'Do it, or else."'

Frederick said she's taken some good-natured ribbing from locals about the artwork, but she doesn't think the controversy will amount to much. "It's art. It's Manchester. It's small town," she said.

Residents don't see a lot of change, said Frederick. "Now, all of a sudden, they're seeing nudes in the front window."

.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 09/13/2002 12:12:49 PM PDT by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow
"It's art. It's Manchester. It's small town," she said.

The correct phrase would be, "It's a liberal."

2 posted on 09/13/2002 12:23:24 PM PDT by aimhigh
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To: aimhigh
Who ever is monitering the boards...take notice that some scum sucking liberal jerk is fouling up our keywords on each post.
3 posted on 09/13/2002 12:33:35 PM PDT by Jon Geb
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To: marshmallow
Based on the article I don't think the "art" is offensive. But it would be neighborly if the artist did take into account the school bus location. Just because we have the freedom to do things doesn't mean we can't have some discretion about how we do them.
4 posted on 09/13/2002 12:36:33 PM PDT by TXBubba
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To: TXBubba
I agree, a drawing of a nude is not inherently offensive (no Rosie comments, please), but this guy could exercise a little better judgment (and good neighborliness) than to put the one with lesbian overtones, especially, where a small child could see it.
5 posted on 09/13/2002 12:41:47 PM PDT by mountaineer
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To: Jon Geb
Did you have your keyboard type a bunch of strange characters, or are you making a joke about typos? Just wondering as I had a "problem" earlier that was unexplainable.
6 posted on 09/13/2002 12:49:02 PM PDT by AdA$tra
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To: marshmallow
Ferriby feels he should take a stand.

I guess just being a gracious neighbor, and showing respect for the sensibilities of the community in which you live is just out of the question, huh?

7 posted on 09/13/2002 12:56:07 PM PDT by Illbay
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To: TXBubba
But it would be neighborly if the artist did take into account the school bus location.

Unfortunately, no such sentiment exists in our society any more.

The ultra Libertines not only want total liberty without responsibility, they want to make sure THEIR "liberty" is right in your face.

It's childish, but what did you expect?

8 posted on 09/13/2002 12:58:27 PM PDT by Illbay
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To: Illbay
I hear you there. Sad isn't it.
9 posted on 09/13/2002 1:04:35 PM PDT by TXBubba
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To: Illbay
I always hear the argument, "don't shove your morality down our throats", but this is apparently only a one way sentiment.

They have NO problem forcing me or my family to consume their version of morality. It is beyond frustrating.

10 posted on 09/13/2002 1:09:24 PM PDT by Damocles
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To: marshmallow
The primary obsession of the art "community" is the promotion of perversion.
11 posted on 09/13/2002 1:56:07 PM PDT by moyden
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To: Damocles
They have NO problem forcing me or my family to consume their version of morality. It is beyond frustrating.

That's right. Many can't stand to see happy, well-adjusted people enjoying their lives, so, they have to drag everyone down.

12 posted on 09/13/2002 2:22:27 PM PDT by Chemist_Geek
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To: TXBubba
A couple years ago in Indianapolis, some pro-life demonstrators deliberately chose school bus stops to picket carrying gruesome pictures of aborted fetuses. I don't think that was appropriate either.

Everything in it's proper place...

13 posted on 09/13/2002 2:22:35 PM PDT by Black Cat
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To: Damocles
They have NO problem forcing me or my family to consume their version of morality. It is beyond frustrating.

Now there you go with the "hate speech."

How can you live with yourself?

14 posted on 09/13/2002 4:17:39 PM PDT by Illbay
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To: Illbay
Oh my god, I actually agree with Illbay, what's the world coming to?

It IS friday the 13th isn't it? That must be it!! ;)
15 posted on 09/13/2002 4:28:53 PM PDT by Aric2000
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To: Illbay

Just for your information, I am the artist spoken of in this article. The bus stop was over 100 yards from the front window of my shop, which sat back from the road over 50 feet, so no school children had this artwork right in their faces, but they would have to go way out of their way to see it (which they did AFTER all the complaining and articles in the paper and all, whereas none had before). Furthermore, there are nude public sculptures on display in the park less than 10 miles away for all to see, with no complaint from anyone, not to mention the nudes in every public art museum and gallery on the planet, including all the ones frequented by school children on field trips. It was all much to do about nothing, created by a bunch of right wing yokels like yourself.


16 posted on 03/10/2006 3:34:59 PM PST by studioinde
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