An arts-friendly town? tell the cops!

Our Take

An arts-friendly town? Someone forgot to tell the cops

First of all I was there, right in the middle of it, so I’m not opining second hand. I’m talking about the “Must See TV” performance art piece carried out by dozens of people in the Farmer’s Market area and in front of the city market building last week. You know by now, the exercise where people were to sit silently and watch the blank screen of a television set for five minutes. If passersby asked what they were doing, participants were supposed to reply, “I’m watching TV.” Local performance artist Beth Deel, who likes to “push the envelope,” at times, called it a “way to slow down time with an action and see what the interpretation is. Its really in the spirit of improv.”

Even some of the organizers weren’t sure what the message was supposed to be. But that’s the point of art, whether it hangs on a wall, stands in a plaza – or involves people staring at blank TV’s. The way Roanoke City Councilman David Trinkle explained it on Monday – his wife took part – the group was careful not to assemble in large bunches, thus avoiding the need for a permit on their part.

Someone forgot to let certain Roanoke City police officers in on the secret: that the Star City aims to position itself as an arts-friendly town, one that welcomes artists of all stripes and ages. So what happens? Officer Bill Lucas and company overreacted to the fact that several young people were sitting on the sidewalk in from of the market building last Thursday.

Brooke Rosel was there watching her television when Lucas barked at her to get up. “It wasn’t to be negative in any way,” said Rosel afterwards. Lucas threatened to fine and arrest her, said Rosel. “He was very, very rude.” Other officers “laughed” she said when they were let in on what was going on.

One young woman, Katherine Gwaltney, stayed in character when “Wild Bill” asked her for ID (?) by saying “wait, this is the best part!” as if she was obsessed with what whatever was playing on her (blank) portable TV. That wasn’t a good move – when a cop asks for something the better choice is probably to accommodate them, but Lucas and a fellow officer were totally over the top, yelling about keeping the sidewalks free for pedestrians (have they not seen young people sitting on the steps at the market building before?), barking at some of them to turn off their video recorders or to move along.

Huh? Have they not heard of the First Amendment? “Freedom of speech!” became a rallying cry, as Lucas cuffed Gwaltney and took her to the paddy wagon for a free ride to jail – hauling her portable TV under one arm. (One online wag compared Lucas to Barney Fife… does that mean Roanoke is Mayberry? Hardly the image it seeks.) “Looks like the Roanoke cops were just in a bad mood today,” said Matt Ames, “Its just ridiculous.”

City Manager Darlene Burcham has called the incident “unfortunate.” Trinkle said he hopes to see more performance art in the streets of Roanoke soon and fellow council member Gwen Mason decried Police Chief Joe Gaskins for (once again) displaying his fortress-like mentality by not coming out and making a statement, days after the incident.

Roanoke City sent the wrong message last week: that art is meant to be more stodgy – go spend your money to look at paintings hanging at the Taubman perhaps – and that youthful ideas involving performance art need not apply here. If I’m a young person on the fence about staying Roanoke and was a witness to the market incident – or if I’ve seen it on YouTube by now – do you think I want to stay here? What about tourists or conventioneers visiting from Hotel Roanoke? What must some of them have thought?

Some of those involved with “Must See TV” have held off the cuff, permit-less events in the past, like racing big wheels through parking garages. Maybe there is a way they could tip off the city in the future that, hey, this what we want to do. In any case the Roanoke City Police Department overreacted big time. I’ve lived elsewhere in a small city like Roanoke that also pegged part of its growth to the arts and young people – and this would not have been an issue 30 years ago!

Time to decide what you want to be Roanoke, how tolerant you want to be when it comes to the arts, and what type of arts, and how welcoming you want to be towards young artists and others that support them. Then let the rest of us in on the secret – starting with some of those apparently humorless, non-art loving police officers. “I think sometimes fear makes people overreact,” said Beth Deel, who thought Lucas might have believed it was “a political action. Hopefully we can get it all straightened out.”


(from May 22 Roanoke Star-Sentinel)