Well, if you have not heard yet; Gaea was returned back to her home in front of Brigid’s Cross in downtown Bemidji on July 6th, 2010 that night. I have been so busy after I returned from Florida and this is the first moment I have had to even post an update. I apologize. I will post some photos and I was given permission to post these photos. However, I asked a while ago and I cannot remember specific names for each photo. They have been made possible by Deborah Davis, Cate Belleveau, and Christina Thorne. I am sure there are a couple more such as from Linda Brown. Thank you all.
I unfortunately was unable to attend the city council meeting but the outcome of supporters that attended was around 80 people in support of returning Gaea. The update I received was that they discussed as to why it was deemed inappropriate to be displayed by one city council member and then another city council member argued that the complaints she had heard; is not what she saw when viewing Gaea! That week was one of the most intense and most rewarding feelings ever I have felt in my life. We had designated people to speak and discuss why we were against the decision of John Chattin and why we felt Gaea should be returned! It was put in motion and seconded that Gaea be returned. What a happy day for Deborah Davis and ALL artists who walked with her in support and fought in protest against the unfair removal of Gaea.
After all the mayhem started we started shrouding our sculptures to protest the removal of Gaea. We were all quite upset. It made papers and numerous news stations. On July 4th, we had someone stand up in Gaea’s spot painted with Georgia O’keefe art on his body. It drew a lot of attention and most definitely helped get our point across.
I am just so happy and pleased that Gaea has been returned home. I have had people come up to me and ask if I was indeed the one who started blogging about it and have had several people thank me for fighting along with it. I have no decided what my next tattoo is going to be and where it is going to go. I will share later. After all of this mess and even after our happy ending—I still feel strongly about art censorship and I am really considering becoming an activist in regards to this. I love all of my fellow artists and our artist community. We are so blessed to have such a great community in Bemidji. I just want to give a big thanks to Al and Cate Belleveau for all the hard work they have done in keeping the arts alive and organizing the sculpture walk along with many other artistic things made possible because two people care and understand the importance of Art.
Thank you to all who fought and supported Deborah Davis and Gaea through out this protest and fight! It is greatly appreciated by all!
Sincerely,
LOVE & PEACE FRIENDSHIPS!
Shanna Mae
Mae Creates Handmade: Inspired by Life and Nature 