An artist whose exhibit of work featuring sexual and racial themes was canceled by the Detroit Institute of Arts has been paid $12,500 to compensate for the cancellation.
The Associated Press says Jef Bourgeau was paid Feb. 16. The exhibit was cancelled last November over a Jesus figure wearing a condom and a work whose title contained a racial slur.
Museum spokeswoman Annmarie Erickson tells the AP the museum doesn't consider it a settlement, however. ``It is a payment," she says. "From now on, artists - particularly those doing installations - will have firm contracts.''
The museum had accepted the Bourgeau exhibit two years ago, but new director Graham Beal closed it over elements he said would ``cause offense to important parts of our community.''
Bourgeau had accused the museum of censorship and first thought to burn the check, the AP says. But he has decided, he tells the AP, to use it to set up a permanent contemporary art museum for Detroit.
