3,400 View Yoko Ono's Exhibit (1971)

 

3,400 View Yoko Ono's Exhibit

No writer listed

The Post-Standard

October 11, 1971

P    oor weather could not keep an estimated 3400 persons away from Everson Museum yesterday, as Yoko Ono Lennon's art exhibit went into its second day of public display.

     The Lennons left Syracuse about 4p.m. but not before paying a visit to the Onondaga Indian Reservation in the morning; they met Chief William I Lazor. The chief was unavailable for comment on the meeting because of the beginning of a week-long religious ceremony.

     Museum spokesman said it was difficult to estimate the exact attendance since persons under 16 are admitted for free. James Harithas, director of Everson, said almost 9000 people had seen the exhibit over the weekend.

     Umbrella-toting youths huddled under the overhangs of the museum yesterday, waiting to get in. The line continued outside until the 5 p.m. closing time. At Hotel Syracuse, about a dozen youths kept a vigil, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Lennons, apparently unaware that they had left the city. 

    The exhibition This Is  Not Here was scheduled to open Saturday at noon, and at 11 a.m. the crowd outside the museum was so large it overflowed into South State Street. As expected, the majority of the early birds were of high school and college age, but what surprised museum security personnel were the many who were carrying knapsacks and sleeping bags.

     "Some of these kids were here as early as 8o'clock this morning," a security guard said. In fact, the first people to arrive were a group from San Francisco in a VW bus. Kathy Singleton, a well-tanned UCLA coed with sun-bleached blonde hair, said, "I came up here yesterday with nine other UCLA students. We heard about Yoko's show a few weeks ago on the Cavett Show." John and Yoko Lennon plugged the exhibit during a taped interview broadcast coast to coast September 21st to September 24th on the Dick Cavett Show by the ABC Television Network. 

    It was about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when the building opened. City police manned the doors to regulate the flow of spectators. By that time, many spectators entered with a sneeze and damp clothing, for they had been met by intermittent showers, overcast skies, and chilly temperatures while waiting outside.

     Peace marshals volunteered from Syracuse University were posted throughout the museum to keep the lines moving and safeguard against the theft of exhibition pieces. Many of Saturday's museumgoers were primarily there to see the Lennons. "If I don't get to see him, my four hours of hitchhiking from Rochester will be worthless," claimed 16-year-old Bev Johnson.

     Some caught a glimpse of the couple, who for a time were seated at one exhibit, a garden court with white chairs and a table, and could be seen from the museum balcony.

     Other notable personalities appeared at the show throughout the day. Cries of "There's George" or "Hey, it's Ringo" were common.

     About 240 peace marshals told spectators that the museum was temporarily closing and that they had to leave. Some spectators, many of whom paid the $1 admission price, greeted the news with four-letter words and left. Others who saw the action as a ploy to empty the museum to make room for the hundreds still outside remained in the building and continued their tour when the exhibitions reopened minutes later.