TOLEDO — An appointee to the Ohio Arts Council resigned Friday after making a vulgar comment on social media about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris that also supported President Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the presidential election.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said he accepted Susan Allan Block’s resignation a day after his office issued a statement saying her comments were highly offensive.
Block, of Toledo, posted the all-caps comments Wednesday after a pro-Trump mob overran the U.S. Capitol.
She was first appointed to the state agency in 2016 and was reappointed by DeWine in 2019. The council oversees funding for the arts.
“Our agency does not condone or endorse these inflammatory opinions in any way, and we will continue to work in alignment with our shared values of diversity, equity and inclusivity,” Donna Collins, the council’s executive director, said in an email Friday.
A day earlier, Collins said she couldn’t comment on the personal opinions of board members, but she issued a new statement because Block was no longer on the board.
Block is the wife of Allan Block, chairman of Block Communications Inc., which owns the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Blade newspaper in Toledo.
The company issued a statement that said Susan Allan Block’s social media postings do not reflect those of the company and only “represent her individual views as a private citizen; she has a First Amendment right to freedom of speech and her opinions.”
The statement also said she is not an employee or director of the company. She previously was appointed to its board in 2018; it was not clear when she left.
State Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown, issued a statement regarding Allan Block’s resignation.
“Susan Allan Block’s remarks are degrading, offensive, and dangerous. They are absolutely beneath the distinguished reputation and work of the Ohio Arts Council and our arts community in the state,” Lepore-Hagan said. “I am thankful for her resignation from the board and hopeful she will never again be given the honor of serving the public.”
Toledo journalist Nolan Rosenkrans’ tweet on Thursday included a screenshot of Allan Block’s online comments such as, “No Peace! No Unity! No Concession! No legitimacy to a stolen election!” and calling Harris a derogatory term, sparking outrage and resignation calls from Democratic state legislators and local arts councils.
“The arts community is unique and precious to me. It includes the most creative and wonderful people who have open minds and open hearts,” Lepore-Hagan said. “It is clear that due diligence and proper vetting of Ms. Block had not been conducted prior to her appointment and reappointment to the board. Future appointments to the Ohio Arts Council must be subjected to stronger scrutiny.”
Lepore-Hagan has a long history of strongly supporting the arts in Ohio. She is a cum laude graduate of Ohio University, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance, and she also took post-graduate classes in graphic arts and education at Youngstown State University. She served as Youngstown State University’s director of the performing arts series where she supervised employees, administered the department’s budget, and secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for YSU’s music and theatre programs.
Her father, Jim, was both a professor at Youngstown State University and a renowned artist whose abstract paintings have been displayed in numerous museums and galleries across the United States, including the Butler Institute of American Art.
Allan Block’s affiliation with the National Museum of Women in the Arts and its advisory board also has been revoked.
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January 09, 2021 at 12:41PM
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Ohio Arts Council board member resigns after vulgar post - Youngstown Vindicator
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