UNIT/PITT is not part of the anonymous group that has put together a “we don’t back the juiceman” blog on tumblr. It is true that the issues of affordable space and the freedom to produce and present culture in the city are serious, and demand more serious treatment than they are getting. In repeatedly capitulating to real estate developers, successive Vancouver city governments have put cultural space, cultural production, and access to culture at risk, not to mention deepening the gap between rich and poor. However, anyone who says that the City allowed the Pitt to close back in 2009 by spending money on a piece of public art by Rodney Graham is making idiotic statements. The people who are making those statements choose to do so anonymously, which is their right, but they shouldn’t make it seem like the Pitt completely agrees with them. They never asked us, and we don’t.
Hopefully, this is the last thing we will have to say about that, and we can go on to other things. Please come out to the launch of Yin Yang Temple by Patrick Cruz on Friday.
Update, 21 October: The tumblr in question appears to have been edited slightly, but they’re still maintaining the Pitt vs. Rodney Graham formulation, which is a pile of crap. We don’t support attacks on public art, and we don’t think that anyone aspiring to advocate on behalf of artists should, either.