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| Seagull Cinderella, 2016, styrofoam, cement, acrylic, 8ftx4ftx4ft by Donna Dodson |
Seagull Cinderella is as common as the birds we see at the beach. Yet she is uncommon, like Marilla in Anne of Green Gables, corseted and bound by the sweet virtues of her character. Her full length gown is alive with neon daisies and flower power! This piece is Celebrating a Common sea bird as the American mythic princess, Cinderella.
Jessica Bregoli selected my sculpture, Seagull Cinderella, for the Seaport Art Walk in New Bedford. I installed the sculpture on a highly visible site pre-selected by the Seaport Art Walk Committee on June 9th. After being on view for about a month or so, a petition was filed by a local resident to "Remove the Seagull Statue in Downtown New Bedford." Therein started the public controversy:
July 14th, 2016, The Petition, "Remove The Seagull with Boobs Statue in Downtown New Bedford"
This spawned several counter petitions:
"Stop the petition demanding removal of the seagull statue with boobs" petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/…/stop-the-petition-demandi…/
"SAVE New Bedford's 'Boob Duck'- ENHANCE its bust!" petition
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/…/save-new-bedfords-%22boob…/
"Petition To Have The Breasts Chiseled Off of the Venus Demilo because they make Raymond C. Uncomfortable" petition, which states: "Because art should clearly be censored so you dont have to look at suggestive breasts."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/170/671/273/…
"Make The A** Bigger on the Seagull Statue In Downtown New Bedford," petition
And then came the media frenzy:
July 20th, 2016, Fun 107 FM, "Remove Seagull with Boobs Statue in Downtown New Bedford or not? By Christine Fox
July 20th, PYX 106 FM, "Mass. City Wants Statue Of Seagull With Boobs Removed."
July 21st, 2016, The Boston Globe, "Should this busty seagull statue remain in New Bedford?" by Sophie Haigney
July 21st, 2016, South Coast Today, "Seagull Cinderella: Love or hate her. She has got people talking in New Bedford," by Curt Brown
July 22nd, 2016, Boston Magazine, "New Bedford Residents Are Feuding Over a ‘Seagull with Boobs’," by Madeline Bilis
July 23rd, South Coast Today, "A 'Seagull' flying: Inspired artists start sticker movement in response to criticism," by Mike Lawrence.
July 24th, 2016, WJAR Channel 10 News, "Petition started to remove controversial sculpture," by Matt Reed
July 24th, 2106, WBZ-TV News, "Hundreds Sign Petition Demanding Removal Of Seagull Scuplture," by Kathryn Hauser.
This spawned several counter petitions:
"Stop the petition demanding removal of the seagull statue with boobs" petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/…/stop-the-petition-demandi…/
"SAVE New Bedford's 'Boob Duck'- ENHANCE its bust!" petition
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/…/save-new-bedfords-%22boob…/
"Petition To Have The Breasts Chiseled Off of the Venus Demilo because they make Raymond C. Uncomfortable" petition, which states: "Because art should clearly be censored so you dont have to look at suggestive breasts."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/170/671/273/…
"Make The A** Bigger on the Seagull Statue In Downtown New Bedford," petition
And then came the media frenzy:
July 20th, 2016, Fun 107 FM, "Remove Seagull with Boobs Statue in Downtown New Bedford or not? By Christine Fox
July 20th, PYX 106 FM, "Mass. City Wants Statue Of Seagull With Boobs Removed."
July 21st, 2016, The Boston Globe, "Should this busty seagull statue remain in New Bedford?" by Sophie Haigney
July 21st, 2016, South Coast Today, "Seagull Cinderella: Love or hate her. She has got people talking in New Bedford," by Curt Brown
July 22nd, 2016, Boston Magazine, "New Bedford Residents Are Feuding Over a ‘Seagull with Boobs’," by Madeline Bilis
July 23rd, South Coast Today, "A 'Seagull' flying: Inspired artists start sticker movement in response to criticism," by Mike Lawrence.
July 24th, 2016, WJAR Channel 10 News, "Petition started to remove controversial sculpture," by Matt Reed
July 24th, 2106, WBZ-TV News, "Hundreds Sign Petition Demanding Removal Of Seagull Scuplture," by Kathryn Hauser.
July 25th, 2016, The Daily Beast, "This Is The ‘Seagull Cinderella’ Sculpture Outraging Massachusetts," by Tim Teeman
July 25th, 2016, Artnet, "Why Are People Going Crazy over this Public Art Sculpture?" by Brian Boucher
July 26th, 2016, New York Magazine, "What Are People Mad About Now? Oh, It’s a Seagull Sculpture With Big Boobs," by Gabriella Paiella
July 26th, 2016, Latest.com, "SEAGULL WITH BIG BREASTS FREAKS OUT LOCAL COMMUNITY," by Peter Van Buren
July 26th, 2016, Fine Art Biblio, "'Seagull Cinderella' Donna Dodson."
July 29th, 2016, WHDH7 News Boston, "Petition calls for removal of ‘Seagull Cinderella’ in New Bedford," by Kris Anderson. Also posted on Youtube.
July 29th, Reddit.com, "New Bedford Residents are feduing over a Seagull with Boobs"
August 1st, 2016, Mashable, "Seagull with boobs statue is tearing a Massachusetts town apart," by Andrea Romano
August 1st, 2016, The Daily Dot, "Angry man wants town's statue of seagull with boobs removed," by David Britton
August 1st, 2016, IHeartRADIO, "Seagull Boobs?," by Klinger
August 1st, 2016, Brobible, "Boston-Hating Guy Wants Statue Of Seagull With Boobs Removed Because It Makes His Town Look Like A Joke," by Neal Lynch
August 1st, 2016, RapidNews.com, "SEAGULL CONDITION OF THE BREAST IS TEARING THE CITY APART MASSACHUSETTS."
August 1st, 2016, Someecards.com, "Seagull statue with big boobs causes even more massive controversy in Massachusetts town," by May Wilkerson
August 1st, 2016, Pop Culture Madness World News, "Seagull Cinderella’s Massive ‘Assets’ Are Stirring Up Controversy In Massachusetts," by Kristyn Clarke
August 1st, 2016, Metachat.com, "Hey Wanna See a statue of a Seagull With Boobs?"
August 1st, 2016, News from Niue, "Seagull with boobs statue is tearing a Massachusetts town apart."
August 1st, 2016, Reddit,"'"
August 1st, 2016, Sputnik News ( Turkey), "Memeli Marti Heykeli Bir Kenti Ikiye Boldu."
August 1st, 2016, United States Today, "Seagull with boobs statue is tearing a Massachusetts town apart."
August 2nd, 2016, WEEI FM, "People in New Bedford freaking out about statue of seagull with boobs," by Jerry Thornton
August 2nd, 2016, Americanuck Radio, "SEAGULL WITH BOOBS STATUE IS TEARING A MASSACHUSETTS TOWN APART."
August 2nd, 2016, International Skeptics Forum, "Boob Seagull statue has outraged folks in Massachusetts."
August 2nd, 2016, Angle News, "Newly installed 'Boob Seagull' statue in Massachusetts city branded offensive by locals."
August 2nd, 2016, Mogaz News "Newly installed 'Boob Seagull' statue is ruffling feathers ..."
August 3rd, 2016, jummyjeenz.com, "Proud to be a Woman," by Deana Tavares
August 9th, 2016, South Coast Today, "Attention Benefits Seagull Princess Artist and Community," by Jamie Uretsky
On August 13th, Jessica Bregoli, Eric Johnson and Gallery X organized A Seagull Cinderella Pop-up Show in support for my sculpture since alot of the media coverage was negative and did not give voice to the people who loved the sculpture. Artists created stickers with hand drawn images of Seagull Cinderella and sold them in all of the galleries in New Bedford. All of the proceeds will be donated to a charity in New Bedford that serves women with breast cancer. The pop up show featured t-shirts, necklaces, collages, comics, paintings and sculptures inspired by Seagull Cinderella.
August 14th, 2016, jummyjeenz.com, "Seagull Cindy Goes to the Beach," by Deana Tavares
On August 19th, Seagull Cinderella has a visit from a new friend, The Princess of Whales:
August 19th, 2016, Boston Globe, "New friend joins New Bedford ‘seagull’ sculpture," by Steve Annear
August 19th, 2016, South Coast Today, "'Seagull Cinderella' sculpture briefly gets whale friend at Route 18 intersection," by Mike Lawrence
August 19th, 2016, 1420 WBSM and Fun 107 FM, "‘Seagull Cinderella’ Gets New Friend, Albeit for a Few Hours," by Greg Desrosiers
July 25th, 2016, Artnet, "Why Are People Going Crazy over this Public Art Sculpture?" by Brian Boucher
July 26th, 2016, New York Magazine, "What Are People Mad About Now? Oh, It’s a Seagull Sculpture With Big Boobs," by Gabriella Paiella
July 26th, 2016, Latest.com, "SEAGULL WITH BIG BREASTS FREAKS OUT LOCAL COMMUNITY," by Peter Van Buren
July 26th, 2016, Fine Art Biblio, "'Seagull Cinderella' Donna Dodson."
July 29th, 2016, WHDH7 News Boston, "Petition calls for removal of ‘Seagull Cinderella’ in New Bedford," by Kris Anderson. Also posted on Youtube.
July 29th, Reddit.com, "New Bedford Residents are feduing over a Seagull with Boobs"
August 1st, 2016, Mashable, "Seagull with boobs statue is tearing a Massachusetts town apart," by Andrea Romano
August 1st, 2016, The Daily Dot, "Angry man wants town's statue of seagull with boobs removed," by David Britton
August 1st, 2016, IHeartRADIO, "Seagull Boobs?," by Klinger
August 1st, 2016, Brobible, "Boston-Hating Guy Wants Statue Of Seagull With Boobs Removed Because It Makes His Town Look Like A Joke," by Neal Lynch
August 1st, 2016, RapidNews.com, "SEAGULL CONDITION OF THE BREAST IS TEARING THE CITY APART MASSACHUSETTS."
August 1st, 2016, Someecards.com, "Seagull statue with big boobs causes even more massive controversy in Massachusetts town," by May Wilkerson
August 1st, 2016, Pop Culture Madness World News, "Seagull Cinderella’s Massive ‘Assets’ Are Stirring Up Controversy In Massachusetts," by Kristyn Clarke
August 1st, 2016, The Daily Mail, "Sculpture of a seagull with BOOBS is ruffling feathers in a Massachusetts city as locals brand it 'offensive' and 'juvenile' and demand it is removed," by Alexandra Genova
August 1st, 2016, #follownews.com, "Boston-Hating Guy Wants Statue Of Seagull With Boobs Removed Because It Makes His Town Look Like A Joke."
August 1st, 2016, cheezburger.com, "Drama Plagues a Small Town as They Argue Over This Seagull With Boobs."
August 1st, 2016, NVS24.com, "Newly installed 'Boob Seagull' statue is ruffling feathers in a Massachusetts city after locals brand it 'offensive' and 'juvenile'"
August 1st, 2016, NVS24.com, "Newly installed 'Boob Seagull' statue is ruffling feathers in a Massachusetts city after locals brand it 'offensive' and 'juvenile'"
August 1st, 2016, Metachat.com, "Hey Wanna See a statue of a Seagull With Boobs?"
August 1st, 2016, News from Niue, "Seagull with boobs statue is tearing a Massachusetts town apart."
August 1st, 2016, Reddit,"'"
August 1st, 2016, Sputnik News ( Turkey), "Memeli Marti Heykeli Bir Kenti Ikiye Boldu."
August 1st, 2016, United States Today, "Seagull with boobs statue is tearing a Massachusetts town apart."
August 2nd, 2016, WEEI FM, "People in New Bedford freaking out about statue of seagull with boobs," by Jerry Thornton
August 2nd, 2016, Americanuck Radio, "SEAGULL WITH BOOBS STATUE IS TEARING A MASSACHUSETTS TOWN APART."
August 2nd, 2016, International Skeptics Forum, "Boob Seagull statue has outraged folks in Massachusetts."
August 2nd, 2016, Angle News, "Newly installed 'Boob Seagull' statue in Massachusetts city branded offensive by locals."
August 2nd, 2016, Mogaz News "Newly installed 'Boob Seagull' statue is ruffling feathers ..."
August 3rd, 2016, jummyjeenz.com, "Proud to be a Woman," by Deana Tavares
August 9th, 2016, South Coast Today, "Attention Benefits Seagull Princess Artist and Community," by Jamie Uretsky
On August 13th, Jessica Bregoli, Eric Johnson and Gallery X organized A Seagull Cinderella Pop-up Show in support for my sculpture since alot of the media coverage was negative and did not give voice to the people who loved the sculpture. Artists created stickers with hand drawn images of Seagull Cinderella and sold them in all of the galleries in New Bedford. All of the proceeds will be donated to a charity in New Bedford that serves women with breast cancer. The pop up show featured t-shirts, necklaces, collages, comics, paintings and sculptures inspired by Seagull Cinderella.
August 14th, 2016, jummyjeenz.com, "Seagull Cindy Goes to the Beach," by Deana Tavares
On August 19th, Seagull Cinderella has a visit from a new friend, The Princess of Whales:
August 19th, 2016, Boston Globe, "New friend joins New Bedford ‘seagull’ sculpture," by Steve Annear
August 19th, 2016, South Coast Today, "'Seagull Cinderella' sculpture briefly gets whale friend at Route 18 intersection," by Mike Lawrence
August 19th, 2016, 1420 WBSM and Fun 107 FM, "‘Seagull Cinderella’ Gets New Friend, Albeit for a Few Hours," by Greg Desrosiers
7 comments:
Much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. I wonder what other media these critics and wise guys looking at behind closed doors. Will every museum and installation need big warning signs posted far ahead of the entrances? Too bad this princess couldn't come to life, and give all her detractors a big hug.
Here's to the winding down of a hot, crazy summer.
Cheers!
Ken R.
Thank you for not adding nipples... they would have given those nervous naysayers some points to focus on.
I love this statue! I live in Maynard and I was SO sad when it disappeared one day. I wish I had known about the pop up art show because I would really adore stickers or a t-shirt!
Thank you, Donna, for bringing something so quirky, fun, and interesting to life!
Thank you Amber! Seagull Cinderella is coming back to Maynard on October 15th! Join us for the parade at 3pm and the pop-up show at 6 Bridges Gallery from 4p-6p to get stickers and t-shirts and lots more good stuff.
Good post.
Thank you Tony M!
Thank you for your beautiful seagull and the representation of women. I like the dress pattern. It reminds me of the tile work of Portugal which represents many in NB.
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