1905 Dentzel Carousel Art Panel Debate Comes to Educational Resolution in Ontario Beach
The 1905 Ontario Beach Dentzel carousel in Rochester, NY. “Offensive” art panel inset.
(August 6, 2015)
ROCHESTER, NY – The debate is finally over. The 110-year-old art panel will stay on the carousel, and as many intelligent folks suggested, it will be used for education purposes as,
“…Interesting interpretive panels that will address, in a scholarly and descriptive manner, all aspects of the carousel, from its hand carving and manufacture by German immigrants in Pennsylvania and placement at Ontario Beach… to its extensive restoration in the 1990s and present day significance as one of the few such carousels to remain in its original location.
Included among these interpretive panels will be one that deals with the specific rounding board image in question as a teachable moment for those who view it.”
(From August 5, 2015)
ONTARIO BEACH, ROCHESTER, NY – I have always said, a historic carousel is a great PR machine among so many other things, but it should be “feel good news” not this baloney.
The folks who are questioning if this simple art panel, depicting two black children on a farm with an ornery rooster, belongs aboard a carousel in the public eye are really getting out of control. The panel in question is aboard the historic 1905 Dentzel menagerie carousel at Ontario Beach, where it has been for 110 years.
The “offending” art panel on the 1905 Dentzel.
Does this suddenly deemed by some offensive art belong there? Yes! As the art panel is part of the original historic carousel, and it is true to the time period the carousel was built. The panel itself is a piece of American history and Folk Art. Better yet, the panel and its art are still part of the original carousel, which is pretty much a museum unto itself, with its 110+ year-old art panels and its sculptured carvings.
Similar art (often very obviously offensive) was fairly common on carousels of the time. (See the Sulzer’s Harlem River Park carousel story and gallery.)
An art panel from the 1890s Bopp-Looff carousel.
What about learning from the art – instead of hiding it and hiding from it? Maybe instead of taking it down – educate people to this kind of art and the time period it came from and the nonchalant racist thinking of folks back in 1905. That is the solution most intelligent folks have to this debate.
Clearly, no one has paid much attention to it for a century, so bring it to their attention. Maybe through a small hand out, you could make it part of the historic carousel experience. Would it not be more effective use the historic art to make people more aware of common nonchalant racism – then and now – than to just discard or paint over it? Maybe some folks, kids especially, could learn something about racism from this that they might not learn somewhere else.
Even Rochester Mayor, Lovely Warren, (who just happens to be black), agrees to leave the art and learn from it. She said, “You have these images out there that are images of American history and now we have to face it, that we have to acknowledge, that we have to deal with,” said Mayor Lovely Warren. “That carousel has been around for a number of years, and it represents a history that was here and we have to tell the truth.”
The Mayor’s response. I really like her;
Mayor Warren Reacts to Carousel Controversy – TWCNews
By TWC News Staff
Jul 20, 2015 – Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren reacted Sunday to an old image depicting two enslaved African American children painted on the carousel. … READ MORE >>>
The most recent of dozens of news stories on this… And another story with some intelligent comments;
Controversial painting on the historic Denzel carousel at Ontario Beach
WROC-TV
Rochester, NY (WROC) – Controversial painting on the historic carousel in Ontario Beach Park, front and center at a public meeting. A group is calling on the city preservation vision board to remove it saying, it’s racially offensive. … READ MORE >>>
Finally, someone says it clear and concise. Thank you, Leo.
Get a grip about carousel art
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Amazing discovery! Found on our own treasured Charlotte Carousel. If you really look hard, way up in the dim far reaches near the ceiling, you can find a mildly insensitive depiction of black children on one of the many painted panels. Suddenly after over a 100 years this is breaking, front page news. A bizarre crusade is being mounted to destroy a tiny piece of historically insensitive trivia from another era. Is this a tempest in a teapot or reminiscent of the Nazi’s burning books? Are we cleaning up our image or rewriting history or both? … READ MORE >>>
