As curator of the Girl: A Feminist Art Show at the Smart Studio in October, I was thrilled to see Ms. Dakota Moulton’s letter in last week’s edition of New Times (“Don't keep art for adults,” Oct. 2). I couldn’t agree with Ms. Moulton more that art should be about engaging our community in diverse social and cultural topics. This show, however, did contain a piece of sculpture with depictions of hardcore pornography pasted on it.

Art? Feminism? Let’s discuss that, certainly!

What I cannot do, however, is sanction attendance and viewing of that piece for an under-18-year-old audience. To do so would have been child abuse, punishable by penal code, and against my ethics as an artist, teacher, and mother. It was the responsible choice I had to make as curator of the show. I do, however, strongly believe in community discourse over socially and culturally diverse topics and am extremely appreciative of the thoughtfulness this show inspired in our citizens.

Let’s keep up the true work of discussing the ways we can learn from our differences, especially with and for our children, and how art and artists have been representing those issues since we learned how to paint on the walls of a cave.

-- Terri Kurczewski - Smart Studio director