I could stare at cowboy art all day and find nothing controversial. But these are weird times, and the culture war pulls in combatants from unexpected places. Now the fight has moved to the open range of the Old West, and we encounter the bizarre spectacle of the American cowboy denounced as a neocon stooge.
For the third year running, protesters are demonstrating against the Phoenix Art Museum's exhibition and sale of works by the Cowboy Artists of America. Protest organizer Melissa Morrison, a 38-year-old writer who didn't return my calls, terms it "the pink chaps protest" and names Martha Burk as her inspiration.
If the award fits, by all means, it must be given.
# posted by John Schroeder @ 11/21/2005 05:40:00 AM
