
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990                   TAG: 9003262155
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

`SELF-SERVING' LABEL UNFAIR TO HELMS

STRANGE, isn't it, the condemnation a man brings upon his head when he attempts to correct a situation he considers wrong? Such is the plight of Jesse Helms. It is unfair of Ann Weinstein to label the senator as self-serving because he deplores the use of tax funds to support obscene "art."

I was stunned to read in her column Jan. 21 that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was hosting the notorious photograph by Andres Serrano of a crucifix marinated in urine - and, unbelievably, his photograph of a dog hanging by its neck. I lived in Richmond years ago, and the general opinion was that the museum upheld the highest in artistic standards. But, how silly of me, I keep forgetting that standards of excellence are no longer popular.

Ms. Weinstein goes on to say that this "self-serving politician" has no consideration for the merit of the artists in question. What kind of merit must one possess to create pictures such as the ones mentioned? Would our learned art critic hang the picture of this pitiful dog in her living room? Does this work not qualify as violence that she abhors? She views (and rightly so) the "Jim and Tammy Show" as obscene, but not the crucifix in urine?

I am frankly grateful for the one and only member of Congress who cares how my taxes are being spent. If Helms' opinion manages to carry any weight, at least when we visit an art gallery we won't need to take along a nose mask and a barf bag. HELEN A. MARTIN ROANOKE

by CNB