This is not a dispute about flowers. It is a dispute about who controls a publicly owned landmark, who is allowed to take part in that control, and whether a closed, self-perpetuating subcommittee of a private women’s club can keep running it without open meetings, published minutes, term limits, or any practical way for the public to hold it to account. I came to that question the hard way, through six years in which the committee discussed removing my work without ever speaking to me, let a false framing of me stand uncorrected, and then answered every question I raised with denial or silence. Annette Szpila has been chair through all of it.
