The director of an embattled college museum has resigned after artists accused the college administration of censoring an exhibition she curated. Andrea Gyorody stepped down as director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Artwork at Pepperdine College, confirming to Hyperallergic that right now could be her final day within the function.
Her resignation comes three weeks after the college administration determined to change two works it thought of “political” that had been on view within the group present Maintain My Hand in Yours, curated by Gyorody. The college then shuttered the exhibition six months early after a number of artists requested that their work be withdrawn from the present in protest.
Michael Friel, Pepperdine’s senior director of Communications and Public Relations, instructed Hyperallergic that Gyorody and the college had “mutually agreed” that she would step down.
“The University thanks Dr. Gyorody for her leadership and contributions during her tenure,” the museum mentioned.
The college had turned off Elana Mann’s video “Call to Arms 2015-2025” (2025), which paperwork 10 years of performances and protests that includes the artist’s arm-shaped megaphones. Directors additionally turned over a small embroidered patch studying “Abolish ICE,” a part of the large-scale collaborative sculpture “Con Nuestros Manos Construimos Deidades (With Our Hands We Build Deities)” (2023) by the group Artwork Made Between Reverse Sides (AMBOS).
“Because Pepperdine’s established practice with the Weisman Museum has been to avoid overtly political content consistent with the University’s nonprofit status, it removed these two pieces from display,” a college spokesperson instructed Hyperallergic on the time.
After the museum was shuttered, college students, college, and alumni voiced their outrage. On Friday, October 17, college of the Superb Arts Division at Pepperdine’s Seaver Faculty posted a press release affirming their “full and unwavering support for our students and their right to engage in creative inquiry without fear of censorship.”
“As educators and scholars, we believe that the freedom to explore complex and challenging ideas is central to the mission of a Christian liberal arts education such as Pepperdine University,” the assertion continued. “Suppressing artwork because it is perceived as ‘political’ undermines this mission and erodes trust in the academic process.”
The “Freedom Wall” at Pepperdine College, the place neighborhood members posted anti-censorship messages (photograph by and courtesy Grace Bidewell)
On the night of October 9, about 100 college students gathered for an artwork night time, making posters and indicators which had been then posted to a “Freedom Wall” on the faculty’s pupil heart.
The protest artwork might be used once more subsequent Wednesday, October 29, in an indication exterior the Elkins auditorium, the place college might be assembly to debate current occasions on the museum, based on Pepperdine senior Grace Bidewell. Mann mentioned she plans to attend together with her horns to amplify the scholars’ message.
Bidewell, an artwork and sustainability double main, instructed Hyperallergic that the alteration of the paintings was at odds with Pepperdine’s Christian mission.
“It doesn’t align with their beliefs as a school. Christ had the view that all beings were created equal. Having artwork that respects that view shouldn’t be a problem,” Bidwell mentioned.
Bryan C. Keene, a third-generation Pepperdine alum who additionally taught artwork historical past there and had his first artwork world job as a museum attendant on the Weisman, echoed these sentiments in an open letter to Pepperdine’s president and board on October 12.
“The recent censorship of artworks at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art represents a profound betrayal of Pepperdine’s academic mission, its Christian values, and its stated commitment to diversity and global leadership,” Keene wrote.
He additionally rejected the college’s argument that its nonprofit standing prohibited the show of paintings with political content material. “Displaying an artist’s work does not constitute institutional endorsement; suggesting otherwise reflects a profound misunderstanding of both art and education,” Keene mentioned.
Gyorody turned director of the Weisman in 2021, the place she organized exhibitions on artists Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson, Jeni Spota C., Isabel Yellin, and Karl Haendel. She was beforehand assistant curator of Trendy and Modern Artwork on the Allen Memorial Artwork Museum at Oberlin Faculty, the place she co-curated Afterlives of the Black Atlantic, which obtained a 2020 Award for Curatorial Excellence from the Affiliation of Artwork Museum Curators.
“It’s a huge loss for the Pepperdine community and the larger LA art community. She’s a brilliant curator, art historian, writer, and thinker,” Mann instructed Hyperallergic. “There’s a sadness amongst students and faculty, but I hope it will spark meaningful change as to who ultimately decides what will go into the museum.”
