Published: Dec. 5, 2018

The CU Boulder Art and Art History Department has come to a mutually satisfactory resolution with an art student whose work was relocated to another venue in the campus’s Visual Arts Complex.

The student has agreed to allow his art to remain in its current location through Dec. 9, and will join forces with a faculty member who is a public art expert to create a mural that will be displayed in the lobby of the arts complex next spring. In addition, faculty and students are planning a symposium to further the discussion about art, free expression and academic freedom.

These are positive outcomes for the student, the department and the university. Even so, the university recognizes that it has more work ahead when it comes to reinforcing its values on the importance of free expression, free speech and academic freedom through art and other endeavors.

Moving forward, we will build on this example, using it as a learning experience for our academic community, and we invite all students, faculty and staff to continue the discussion in galleries, classrooms, lecture halls and among friends and colleagues.