When it comes to the Anton Gag painting "Attack on New Ulm," which was hanging in the Minnesota State Capitol before being stored during the building's renovation, George Glotzbach admits he has "skin in the game."
He is a former member of the board of the Brown County Historical Society and his wife, Sharon, is president of the Wanda Gag House Association, which is charged with preserving and interpreting the Gag family's work. (Wanda Gag was the daughter of Anton Gag.) On top of that, both of the Glotzbachs had ancestors who were "inside the barricades" during the battle with Dakota Indians in 1862 and nearly killed.
The painting is one of several being re-evaluated by a subcommittee to determine whether it is still appropriate to be displayed at the Capitol when the renovation is complete. Some works, particularly those involving American Indians, have been deemed by some as historically biased or as demeaning. This fall, members of a subcommittee to study the art work have been conducting "public input" meetings around the state to see what Minnesotans think. Glotzbach attended one of those meetings recently in Mankato.
"I have an agenda on this just like the Indians have an agenda," said Glotzbach. "This thing hit us like a ton of bricks when we found out that the 'Attack on New Ulm' painting was on the hit list. I see this as nothing more and nothing less than censorship, so I'm every bit as biased as the presenters were in Mankato."
Cathy Klima, communications officer for the restoration project, said seven of the 10 public input meetings have been completed, including one Tuesday night at Hamline University. Klima said the subcommittee is synthesizing the information gathered and will make a preliminary report to the Legislature in January. An online questionnaire about the issue has drawn 1,300 responses.
If you think getting a public consensus on controversial art seems like an impossible task, you are not alone.
"Art is subjective," said Klima. "The subcommittee is very aware of that. We haven't even gotten to the question of 'what is art' yet, or what kind of art is appropriate for a public space."
Paul Anderson, a retired Minnesota Supreme Court justice, has participated in a few of the input sessions and often starts them with a joke: "The past, the present and the future went into a bar. It was tense."