casey's (not the gas station)

This article focused on the city of Philadelphia commissioning a white man for a statue of Harriet Tubman for the city. Many criticized the city on this decision, however, and said that the art should be submission-based on the community, so that other artists have the opportunity to submit artwork, more specifically, giving local black artists the chance to submit designs. The white man, Wesley Wofford, claimed that his voice was not being heard and that art is meant to transcend race, gender, and class. After all, the city only commissioned this statue after Wofford had toured with the piece and received many compliments and renown. The final 5 contestants in the submission contest did end up all being black, which to many, showed that this art piece’s selection was 100% about race. Wofford offered up a larger version of his piece as a backup but did not enter the submission because he felt he may have had too much sway, considering the city commissioned him in the first place.

I really liked this article because I don’t think there’s a clear option to choose. The writer did a very good job of portraying both sides evenly and answering important questions like “Why didn’t Wofford enter the submission contest?” or “What did the Tubman family descendants say, if anything, about this?”. It made me think about what the right decision could be and what I would personally pick in this scenario. This made for a good article too because it referenced other instances of similar issues arising in the world lately.

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The person I interviewed for this assignment was Elsie Dirkx. Elsie is a sophomore at Morningside, majoring in Business Administration and minoring in Spanish and Journalism. She is from Carol, Iowa, and when asked to describe where it was, she said it was, “around an hour and forty-five minutes down Highway 20”. At Morningside, Elsie lives with her roommate Lydia in Roadman South and is busy with many activities, one of which is her involvement with the Morningside Choir. She mentions that they sing various songs, some biblical and multilingual, and are often accompanied by piano or other instruments. She is planning on going on tour in Capetown, Africa with the choir this upcoming summer. Her personal music taste contrasts with what she performs in choir, with her mentioning bands like The Bee Gees and Earth, Wind, and Fire. Other activities include being a peer mentor and being involved with AmeriCorps Civil Leadership and Women’s Leadership. When asked how she heard about Women’s Leadership, Elsie recalls a tea party the group had in Yockey, in which she was reminded of her grandma, who had her very own Victorian-style tea room. Another hobby for Elsie is baking and cooking. This past summer, Elsie was in charge of taking care of 4 kids daily and lived in Spain during this period. She said she wanted the kids to ‘know and experience the value of a home-cooked meal’. This experience partly fuels her passion for cooking as well as inspired her to do her minor in Spanish.