When I read the article, "PSU censors exhibit," April 21, in The Daily Collegian, all I could think was "here we go again." As an artist who has had an exhibit censored at Penn State, I feel for Josh Stulman. Despite previous statements from Penn State President Graham Spanier and Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon saying the school does not condone censorship, that is exactly what it did. The main difference this time is that the director of the School of Visual Arts is in on the act. That, in itself, is ironic to me, being that Charles Garoian, director and professor of the School of Visual Arts, has led a crusade for artistic freedom.

A university should be a place where individuals are exposed to a plethora of viewpoints and encouraged to debate those viewpoints. At the very core of artistic creation is the need for an artist to express his or her personal viewpoints and then for the art's viewers to respond to said art in a critical manner. It is only then that meaningful dialogue can take place.

Unfortunately for the Penn State community, a few within the higher administration have not allowed such dialogue to occur.

Perhaps Penn State's once flourishing art department would be better served to only support and exhibit works from the Bob Ross school, with fluffy clouds and "happy little trees."