[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/090225_BU_Quinonez_0163.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tNewly published text messages between leaders at the University of North Texas (UNT) reveal that administrators feared \u201cany barking from Austin\u201d over plans to cancel an exhibition featuring artwork critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n
Urgent Matter<\/em> reports that the communications show school president Harrison Keller and provost Michael McPherson discussing \u201cNi De Aqu\u00ed, Ni De All\u00e1,\u201d an exhibition of work by Brooklyn artist Victor Qui\u00f1onez, one week before the show was canceled this February.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOur group met this morning regarding the gallery show. We believe all pieces that are of concern can be removed and the rest of the exhibition can continue. You ok with that?\u201d McPherson reportedly wrote to Keller, who responded by thanking him for his help.<\/p>\n \n\tMcPherson subsequently apologized, writing that the university had \u201cgotten ahead of this\u201d in relation to the controversy. She followed up with another message expressing concern that photographs of the artworks featuring anti-ICE messages could circulate before their removal.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI think it\u2019ll be easier to manage any barking from our friends in Austin,\u201d McPherson said, referring to the Texas state capital. \u201cThere will likely be some folks who are upset about perceived censorship. UBSC is ready to address any as such.\u201d<\/p>\n Urgent Matter <\/em>also revealed documents related to the exhibition, including emails sent on February 10 in which UNT leaders discussed how to announce the show\u2019s closure to students.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the email chain, art professor Nicole Foran wrote that a student had told her the window at UNT\u2019s College of Visual Arts and Design Galleries, where the work was installed, had been blocked. The student reportedly asked whether the show would still open, prompting Foran to ask university leadership how she should respond.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201c\ufeffThis is what I am telling front desk workers: The gallery is closed this week and we will have more information later,\u201d Heidi Strobel, the associate dean for academic and student affairs, replied.<\/p>\n \n\tKaren Hutzel, the school\u2019s dean, then added, \u201c\ufeffThis works. We will have more information once we have a new show to announce \u2013 so that is a truthful statement.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tA document outlining policies and practices at UNT\u2019s College of Visual Arts and Design Galleries, where the work was set to be shown, details how the university canceled the exhibition despite policies against censorship.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe CVAD Galleries is devoted to the principle of freedom of expression, artistic and otherwise, and does not censor our exhibitors or their content,\u201d the document states. \u201cRegarding works with the potential for strong reactions, the CVAD Galleries Director and Curator will share information on potential content issues with the CVAD Dean.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn an email to gallery director Stefanie Dlugosz-Acton on February 12, Hutzel provided a boilerplate cancelation notice for Boston University, where the show debuted last fall, that included the lines: \u201cPersonalized greeting that does not express regret or an apology. I am writing to notify you that the university is terminating its art loan agreement with Boston University Art Galleries for the exhibition entitled \u2018Ni de Aqu\u00ed, Ni de All\u00e1.\u2019\u201d The email template continued that UNT \u201cwill satisfy all terms and conditions set out in the agreement associated with the termination, including making outgoing shipping arrangements and paying Boston University any monies owed.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHutzel also emailed a template for Dlugosz-Acton to send to Qui\u00f1onez, suggesting a \u201cpersonalized greeting that does not express regret or an apology.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe university is making arrangements to return the exhibit to Boston University,\u201d the email reportedly reads. \u201cAny activities associated with the exhibition are no longer necessary. However, please let us know if you have incurred travel expenses related to the exhibition for reimbursement.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLeaked faculty meeting transcripts published by the Denton Record-Chronicle<\/em> show Hutzel calling the cancellation an \u201cinstitutional directive,\u201d while declining to name its source. Colleagues were warned to expect a \u201cmedia storm,\u201d according to the transcripts.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the leaked transcripts, Hutzel reportedly told employees that while the school\u2019s administration might survive the reputational fallout, the college itself could face scrutiny from elected officials with the power to allocate\u2014or withhold\u2014state funding.<\/p>\n \n\tAmid escalating ideological clashes over university programs, Republican lawmakers in Texas have used the budget to eliminate faculty and administrative positions and cut academic offerings, as seen recently at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.<\/p>\n \n\tDuring the meeting, a CVAD department official reportedly asked Hutzel whether UNT\u2019s legal team would decline to represent faculty members, despite their constitutional right to free speech.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t believe the university is going to deploy its legal counsel to protect an individual faculty member,\u201d Hutzel replied. \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve seen that elsewhere, either. I\u2019m just being honest. It\u2019s not an absolute answer, but that\u2019s how I understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n ARTnews<\/em> has contacted university leadership and the UNT art gallery for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/unt-leaders-canceled-anti-ice-show-texts-1234777202\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/090225_BU_Quinonez_0163.jpg?w=1024″] Newly published text messages between leaders at the University of North Texas (UNT) reveal that administrators feared \u201cany barking from Austin\u201d over plans to cancel an exhibition featuring artwork critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Urgent Matter reports that the communications show school president Harrison Keller and provost Michael McPherson discussing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-1823040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1823040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1823040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1823040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1823040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}