Ethics

in Art
Response Assignment

1. Define the following terms:

i. Cultural Appropriation
ii. Intellectual Property
iii. Copyright
iv. Cultural Sensitivity

Read the first article titled Paul Frank Celebrated Fashion Week with a Racist, Native American
Themed Dream Catchin Extravaganza and respond to the following questions. Include
examples and proof from the article to back up your thoughts.
1. What is the problem with Paul Franks use of native American imagery? Be
specific.
2. Do you agree that this is a problem? Why or why not?
3. What do you think should be done about designers who use cultural
appropriation? Explain. What would an acceptable solution be for all parties
involved?
4. Do you think there is a time when using a cultures artwork is acceptable? Why or
why not?
Read the second article titled After Offensive Fiasco, Paul Frank Collaborates With Native
Designers and respond to the following question.
5. What is your opinion of the designers response? Was it an appropriate response?
Why or why not?
Assessment:
Your report will be assessed using levels R to 4 max based on the following:
Knowledge: all terms are defined correctly and in your own words; include a reference

Communication: all of the questions have been responded to including support from the article;
the answers are written in sentences and apply art terminology correctly
Thinking: your own ideas are included and clearly supported in your responses.

Paul Frank Celebrated Fashion Week With a

Racist, Native American-Themed Dream
Catchin' Extravaganza
By Katie Baker
Get ready to cringe: Paul Frank hosted a Native American
culture-themed "Dream Catchin" party for last week's
Fashion's Night Out that makes Urban Outfitters' Navajo
Hipster panty fiasco look like a United Nations peace treaty.
The designer's party planners most likely intended to
celebrate native culture by dressing Frank's famous monkey
mascot in a feather headdress and offering specialty cocktails
with names like "Rain Dance Refresher," "Dream Catcher,"
and "Neon Teepee" to guests like Christina Milian, who
posed in "war paint" with tomahawks and bows and arrows
throughout the night. But, as the tipster who notified us of the
event pointed out, that's "very much like celebrating AfricanAmerican culture with a blackface party."
Here's how the Hollywood Reporter described the event: "Paul Frank celebrated Fashion's Night
Out with a neon-Native American powwow theme. Glow-in-the-dark war-painted employees in
feather headbands and bow and arrows invited guests to be photographed on a mini-runway
holding prop tomahawks."
Cute!
According to Indian Country Today, blogger Jessica Metcalfe helped convince Paul Frank to
take over 1,000 party photos off Facebook after posting about the event on Beyond Buckskin and
encouraging readers to mobilize. Metcalfe took particular offense to the fact that there were
loads of young kids there who were encouraged to dress up and "play Indian."
"Evidently, this is our legacy," she wrote. "...these weren't just plain ol' white kids playing
Indian. Now every race and every color and every age group is doing it. It is truly a sad day to
see other People of Color oppressing Native American people and making a mockery of their
cultures."
Paul Frank eventually apologized via Facebook after removing the photos:
"Paul Frank celebrates diversity and is inspired by many rich cultures from around the world.
The theme of our Fashion's Night Out event was in no way meant to disrespect the Native
American culture, however due to some comments we have received we are removing all photos

from the event and would like to formally and sincerely apologize. Thank you everyone for your
feedback and support."
But it turns out it wasn't just a one-night-only theme; Metcalfe found photos of a related t-shirt
collection. Now you don't have to be VIP to get in on the fun!
Click through the photos to see event details, Paul Frank's "Dream Catchin" T-shirt line, and
Disney and Nickelodeon celebrities gleefully dressing in redface.

http://jezebel.com/5942192/paulfrankcelebratedfashionweekwitharacistnative
american+themeddreamcatchinextravaganza/

After Offensive Fiasco, Paul Frank

Collaborates With Native Designers
By Kate Crowley
http://jezebel.com/after-offensive-fiasco-paul-frank-collaborates-with-na-1209376546
Imagine this: After producing an event offensive to Native Americans, Paul Frank is now
working with Native American artists and designers going from cultural appropriation to
cultural appreciation.
This time of year about 150,000 people descend on Santa Fe, New
Mexico for Indian Market and its a pretty big deal as leaders and
artists from the United States and Canada get together for an
extreme exchange of creative thoughts. This past Friday evening
before the official start of Indian Market, about 200 fashion-forward
folks gathered at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts to
celebrate the release of the Paul Frank Presents collection,
featuring work by four Native designers.
Unlike previous get togethers, this one didnt include tomahawks,
war paint, or cocktails with tacky neo-native names. Instead it
celebrated a high profile win for all who challenge cultural
appropriation.
The event launched the collection and included a panel discussion and receptions with some of
the movers and shakers involved in the Paul Frank/Beyond Buckskin/Native Appropriations saga
proved that sometimes social change can be an outcome of fashion design, blogging, and
community action. Whoa. The event centered on a dynamite panel with the collections
designers (Candace Halcro, Plains Cree/Metis, Louie Gong, Nooksack, Autumn Dawn Gomez,
Comanche/Taos and Dustin Quinn Martin, Navajo), powerful female writers and bloggers
Adrienne Keene, Cherokee, and Jessica Metcalfe, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and VP of Design
for Paul Frank, Tracy Bunkoczy.
Part academic, part celebration, the
atmosphere at the beginning of the
event was serious: a quick 10-minute
rehash of previous events, including
the party Paul Frank held where Native
appropriation was flaunted, in front a
mostly Native crowd was likely the
source of Bunkoczys cautious
nervousness. It must be hard to sit
here and listen to this over and over
again, Keene playfully said of the

rehash to the group in attendance from Paul Frank. However Keene also noted that the ladies
from Paul Frank really spent extra time working with Metcalf, Keene and the artists to make the
collaboration line a reality.

This happened because of people in the Native

American community and our allies who want us to be
represented properly in popular culture, said Dr.
Metcalfe.
Im not used to there being any sort of response back to
me.I was just blown away, says Keene of Paul
Franks large-scale action, which included facilitating a
licensing webinar for those in the industry as well as
extensive action on items that had already been licensed.
After a recap of the previous transgressions, the artists spoke to the audience about their work for
the collaboration inspiring laughter and head-nodding from the audience. Gomez, wearing a
crown from her Paul Frank line, stressed a duty to her community while Gong said his work for
the line was directly inspired by the situation that led to the collaboration including sustainable
relationships. Canadian designer Candace Halcro, with a hairstyle that likely was the inspiration
for Mileys new do, said she loves looking crazy and cool and trendy. Shes known as the
sunglasses girl, and experimented with how to incorporate Julius, the Paul Frank mascot
before deciding to stay true to her brands most well known look. Dustin Quinn Martin, the first
designer to speak ended his portion with this thought: I hope especially the Native people in the
crowd are proud of what we came up with, and feel like theres a little bit of us in every single
one of these designs and that we didnt sell out to the man.

Indeed, you might be wondering what the deal with profits is

here, since it was earlier noted that the designers consulted for
free. At the event it was revealed that the designers themselves
will receive the profits from the new line, but also that much of
the work concerning the manufacturing and creation of the items
was left to the artists. This wasnt out of the norm for the female
designers, since none of their work can easily be mass-produced.
Still, the items showcasing the graphics that the male designers
created essentially needed to be outsourced for mass production.
Normal Paul Frank collaborations involve a split of the profits
between the company and the other designer. This time around
Paul Frank will not profit from the sales and all of the profits from the collection will go to each
of the designers. The items are sold through the Beyond Buckskin Boutique and the Paul Frank
items at the MoCNA seemed to be selling well and attracting attention this weekend.

The crowd was a whos who of creatives in Indian Country and Santa Fe. Just like any other
fashion party, guests were anxious to mingle, meet the designers and try on items from the line.
This time though, everyone in attendance was appreciative of the work and aware of what can
happen when a community challenges appropriation.
The artists and panelists pose with the Paul Frank
crew.