August 6, 2001

Subject: Support for "Our Lady"
Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2001 23:43:23 -0400
From: Wendy Hall <amemama@hotmail.com>

I recently had the privilege to visit the International Folk Art museum, and more specifically to see the controversial Cyberarte exhibit. A powerful one indeed. It is rare that one has the opportunity to have such a profound sense of contemporary Chicana issues, and I consider myself fortunate.

While I found the entire exhibit noteworthy, the purpose of this letter is to stand in support of Alma Lopez and the Curator and administration of the museum. I certainly cannot purport to understand the words that are used to describe the impact that "Our Lady" has had on the Northern NM Latino community, such as "hurting" and "pain".

I do, however, fully understand the others such as "purity," "modesty" and "innocence." These are clearly the product of a dominant culture that, despite the leaps and bounds that women have made, still perceives the female form as tainted, sexualized, and impure. (Despite the bombardment of images of the equivalently nude Christ figures, which are, without question, intended to have all of the afore mentioned holy qualities.)