University officials remove Confederate-themed exhibit

STAUNTON, Va. – A private liberal arts university in Virginia says an exhibit that included depictions of Confederate statues has been removed after some students called the installation racist.

News outlets report Mary Baldwin University administrators removed the exhibit titled “Relevant/Scrap” last week, two days after it opened. The two artists say their work was misinterpreted but agreed with its removal from the university’s Hunt Gallery.

University spokeswoman Liesel Crosier says the exhibit included depictions of Richmond’s Confederate statues in “prints, drawings and three-dimensional installations,” including an interactive piece that invited viewers to write comments next to images of the statues on preprinted cards.

Crosier says the students thought the imagery was culturally insensitive and didn’t align with Mary Baldwin values. He says the artists were booked for the gallery before the artwork was produced.