Chris Brown’s Monstery House, Graffiti as Art and Other First Amendment Questions
Last week brought us one of those rare occasions where Perez Hilton reported on the invocation of First Amendment rights, as Chris Brown declared he would fight a Los Angeles citation. Brown was fined $376 for "unpermitted and excessive signage" for graffiti he had painted on the outside of his [...]
Youth Free Expression: Learning and Coping through Open Conversation
Books like "When the Leopard Lost His Spots" can be useful tools to help kids understand gender and identity Every parent wishes their child could be spared the worst of life. War, lingering sickness, hurt and hate: all of these are things most would rather keep far distant from [...]
Report to UN High Commission: Artistic Freedom Must Be Protected or Democracy Suffers
GENEVA, May 31, 2013–Today the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, delivered a landmark report on artistic freedom and expression to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Shaheed is the first Independent Expert on cultural rights appointed by the U.N. The U.S-based National Coalition Against Censorship lauded the report as an important milestone for international mobilizing in support of free artistic expression as a human right.
Protests After Alaska School Censors Student Art Show
"Art is a way to speak our minds!!!" one hand-drawn sign reads. "IB Art Matters!" reads another. These signs hang on the art display boards where art, done by Palmer High School's IB Art students, once hung. In response to recent censorship by the High School, students have made their [...]
Tatted: Art on the Body is Protected Expression
Did you know that in some states, localities have health and safety ordinances prohibiting tattoos and tattooing? You may be surprised to know that even New York City, birthplace of the modern tattoo -- had a ban for 36 years. Now that practically anyone--from our own mothers to elementary school [...]
NY Art School Boxes Student Sperm Project
The recent rather heavy-handed treatment of Marc Bradley Johnson’s MFA thesis project at New York’s School of Visual Art (SVA) raises some interesting concerns—especially for an institution that aims to play a leadership role in the bio-art movement. Johnson’s project consists of a refrigerator containing 68 vials of his sperm [...]