Patrick Carney of The Black Keys seems to have caused a bit of a stir with his recent comments for a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article promoting their recent appearance at the Three Rivers Festival in Pittsburgh on June 5, 2009.
Reminiscing about his time in Pittsburgh, Pat said:
“I used to live in Pittsburgh for like six months. I used to go to that pseudo art school Downtown,” he says of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, in the fall of ’98. “I was getting straight A’s, so I knew there was something wrong, because I had 2.0 in high school. So that’s why I left. It felt like a joke.”
This has prompted no less than the President of the Art instute of Pittsburgh, George L Pry, to respond in a letter to the paper:
I am moved by overwhelming collective response within The Art Institute of Pittsburgh college community to extend our disdain for Scott Mervis’ article announcing the appearance of the Black Keys at the Three Rivers Arts Festival (June 4).
Our outrage is not with the opinion of the band’s drummer, for every institution of higher education deals with the negative commentary from a dissatisfied dropout from time to time. More specifically, our concerns are directed squarely at Mervis, for his surprising lack of professional decency.
Still greater is our sense of wonder about how the drummer’s quote speaks in any meaningful way to telling Mervis’ story about how the Black Keys formed or drawing the relationship between its members and the City of Pittsburgh.
Patrick Carney’s quote about his academic performance and his insult to one of the city’s most successful, historic and largest academic institutions have no relevance to the Arts Festival or the city, and therefore, it can only be concluded that Mervis lacked the judgment to disregard the statement.
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is a thriving institution closing in on a century of success with an alumni network of tens of thousands of successful commercial artists, photographers, illustrators, filmmakers, animators and designers of all disciplines.
Despite its delivery, Patrick Carney’s opinion concerns us. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh takes pride in a continuous cycle of improvement and our commitment to graduate success has been the core of our mission since 1921.
Mervis’ indiscretion in choosing to lead his story with such an unsavory, irrelevant remark to a college that hosts over 12,000 students, 340 employees and 900 year-round residents of Downtown Pittsburgh? That’s another matter. One that raises a simple question about his motivation.
George L. Pry
President, Art Institute of Pittsburgh
Crikey, I didn’t realise The Black Keys were were now such tall poppies or their views on education were crucial to the well being of an established institution.
Anyone who has read many interviews with Pat over the years knows his comments are often acerbic and ironic. He likes to poke fun at issues that are generally taken so seriously. Clearly he was just speaking of his own experiences. Big deal. Some of the educated alumni might have seen the comments in the context in which they were offered.
The President is obviously concerned other students will be turned off studying at the Institute. His spleen is venting more toward the reporter Scott Mervis’ use of the quote but he cant help himself to dis-credit Pat as a “dissatisfied dropout”.
In summary, funny.
Related posts:
- Patrick Carney from The Black Keys on Twitter
- Patrick Carney's Solo Music Projects
- Interview with Patrick Carney from The Black Keys – Part 1
- Patrick Carney vs Animal from the Muppets
- Interview with Patrick Carney from The Black Keys – Part 2
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