Virtual Book Launch: Curating Under Pressure
Virtual book launch exploring art world pressures to self-censor and the curatorial responses from a range of international perspectives.
NCAC Opposes Removal of Mural Depicting Slavery
NCAC is asking the University of Kentucky (UK) to cancel recently announced plans to remove a 1930’s-era mural depicting aspects of Kentucky history, including slavery. Some students have demanded its removal because they consider it demeaning to people of color on campus. In 2018, the university commissioned an installation by Karyn Olivier, a noted Black artist, that was painted above [...]
New Mexico Museum of Art Urged to Reaffirm Artistic Freedom After Removing Project on Fracking
New Mexico Museum of Art chilled artistic expression by removing a project focused on the impact of fracking on the local community from an environmentally-focused exhibition over political concerns.
San Antonio Censors Queer Latina Performance Artist Xandra Ibarra | UPDATED
The City of San Antonio censored queer Latina performance artist Xandra Ibarra's work addressing race and gender stereotypes, likely infringing on the First Amendment.
NCAC Receives Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts renews its major support of NCAC's Arts Advocacy Program
NCAC’s Arts Advocacy Program Shines at the Creative Time Summit
In November 2019, for Creative Time Summit X: Speaking Truth, our Arts Advocacy Program (AAP) organized the roundtable session Fear and Controversy: Censorship in the Arts at the Cooper Union with artists Christina Freeman (UltraViolet Archive), Roopa Vasudevan (Center for Media at Risk, University of Pennsylvania) and Joy Garnett (NCAC's Arts Advocacy Program). The number of attendees (approx. 25 [...]
UPDATE: VICTORY! Pepperdine University Censors Student’s Art
Pepperdine University is refusing to display an art student's works alongside her peers because the works depict nudity.
National Groups Urge Washington College (Maryland) to Reschedule Student Production of ‘The Foreigner’
Washington College, Maryland, has censored a student-directed production of The Foreigner due to the appearance of the Ku Klux Klan as the play's villains.
Truth Is Complicated
George Washington High School students, Lía Sánchez, Rowan Francis Taylor and Dava Munyon, share their thoughts on the Victor Arnautoff murals.
Mayor Vetoes Bill Clarifying Washington DC Arts Commission’s Independence
UPDATE: 10/24/19: On October 22, the DC Council voted unanimously to override Mayor Muriel Bowser's veto of an emergency bill that would have clarified the DCCAH’s independence. “The underlying legislation cemented DCCAH's separation from the executive's office after a tumultuous summer during which the mayor tried and failed to grab control of the District's public arts.” (see original post below) [...]
Art Auction 2019
The National Coalition Against Censorship is grateful to the incredible artists who have generously donated to this year's NCAC Art Auction. The works will be displayed on Monday, November 11th at Let Me Speak: A Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders, NCAC's annual benefit in New York City. The auction is hosted online by Paddle8. The auction is [...]
Cancel Culture: Can Free Speech in Cultural Institutions Survive the Onslaught of Moral Outrage?
Svetlana Mintcheva, NCAC's Director of Programs, presented a talk at the Harvard Law School Library on the effects contemporary moral outrage has on the arts and culture.
Allen Ginsberg Censored in Hermosa Beach, California
An artist in Hermosa Beach, California, has been pressured by Hermosa Beach Mural Project organizers to remove poet Allen Ginsberg from a new public mural.
California Artist Turns Censorship Into Powerful Artistic Statement
Christy Chan turned censorship into a powerful artistic statement in Richmond, California
San Francisco Mural Controversy: Perspectives and Updates
UPDATE October 4, 2019: The George Washington High School Alumni Association filed a lawsuit in the public interest against the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education, challenging the School Board’s commitment to remove from public view Victor Arnautoff’s 1936 New Deal mural with panels without conducting an environmental review, which is required by California law. UPDATE August 13, [...]
NCAC Calls for Open Forum to Discuss San Francisco Murals
NCAC proposes holding an open forum where GWHS students can talk about how they see and interpret the Arnautoff murals. We invite the San Francisco Board of Education to collaborate with us in presenting the forum.
NCAC Honored By Dramatists Legal Defense Fund
Dramatists Legal Defense Fund will present an award to Svetlana Mintcheva, NCAC's Director of Programs, for NCAC's fierce commitment to protecting and advocating for the First Amendment.
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco Removes Art Referencing Gaza
The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco removed two works from its exhibition, La Frontera: Artists Respond to the U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis.
UPDATE | University Suspends Library Director Over Controversial Photo Display
Doane University in Nebraska has closed a library display and suspended the library director over the inclusion of historical photos of students wearing blackface.
Facebook Agrees to Reconsider Artistic Nudity Policies
Facebook’s policy team has committed to convening a group of stakeholders to consider a new approach to nudity guidelines.
Nude #WeTheNipple Art Action at Facebook Headquarters Calls Out Censorship
NCAC and artist Spencer Tunick created a nude art action in front of Facebook and Instagram's New York City headquarters as part of their #WeTheNipple campaign against art censorship on social media.
Compromise Reached Over Disputed Los Angeles School Mural
After intervention from artists, advocates and community groups, a compromise has been reached that will allow the mural to remain with artist Beau Stanton overseeing changes to the work.
NCAC Condemns Removal of Artwork Commemorating Victim of Police Shooting
In addition to likely violating the artist’s constitutional right to free expression, the removal of the work is antithetical to the spirit of Memorial Day and shows a particular disregard for its African American roots.
Georgia City Pulls Sponsorship of Local Play | UPDATE
The City of Carrollton, Georgia pulled its sponsorship from a theater production of Calendar Girls in response to the play’s textual references to nudity, raising serious First Amendment concerns.
NCAC Condemns Removal of Student Artwork Critical of Police
A student artwork critical of police was removed from a school exhibition in Madeira, Ohio, flagrantly disregarding the student's rights.
San Francisco High School May Destroy Historical Murals
NCAC urges the school to consider the serious, irreversible ramifications of destroying thirteen WPA murals at George Washington High School.
Panel Addresses the Challenges of #MeToo and the Morally Compromised Artist
A discussion of what to do with the art of morally compromised artists, how morally compromised is "too" morally compromised, whether it matter if the artist is alive and, ultimately, who decides upon these issues of what is acceptable
Art Schools Must Prepare Artists to Resist Self-Censorship
NCAC is offering support to Allegheny College in encouraging its student artist to re-display their work after social media controversy and to offer students support in navigating such controversies around their work.
Chinese Artist Censored in North Carolina Exhibition | UPDATE: VICTORY!
A US-based Chinese artist was forced to remove three paintings from a show in North Carolina to avoid "offending" patrons.
Jodorowsky Retrospective Cancelled at El Museo del Barrio
New York's El Museo del Barrio recently cancelled a retrospective of the work of Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. This cancellation is the latest example of art institutions cancelling or modifying shows in response to public pressure.
NCAC Protests Political Censorship at Ground Zero
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey relocated an art installation depicting the Saudi Arabian flag after public complaints.
NCAC Urges Queens Library to Restore Canceled Photography Exhibition
Image courtesy of Drew Kerr The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) urges Queens Library to restore an exhibition of photographs it canceled and allow it to run for three weeks as originally planned. Drew Kerr’s exhibition, Faces of The 7 Train, consists of 32 black-and-white photographs that the artist shot of passengers on the 7 train over the course of [...]
Tumblr Adult Content Ban Will Chill Free Expression Online
On December 17th, Tumblr permanently banned adult content from its platform. Under the new community guidelines, any image that depicts sex acts, real-life human genitalia, or (with a few exceptions) female nipples will be hidden from public view. Despite the company’s claims, the new guidelines will not create a “better, more positive” Tumblr.
NCAC Opposes Removal of Mural at Los Angeles School
The superintendent of a Los Angeles school district has unilaterally decided to remove a mural on display on the exterior wall of RFK Community Schools’ theater after some members of the surrounding community complained that visual elements of the mural resembled the Rising Sun flag of Imperialist Japan.
Student Art Exhibition Challenged at University of Colorado Boulder; UPDATE: the University Comes to a Resolution with the Student
A student artist at CU Boulder may have been censored by his university. Investigation in progress.
NCAC Protests Political Censorship at Cleveland State University
NCAC urges Cleveland State University to remove the cover the University used to block from view a political text featured on a sculpture displayed on campus.
DC Commission on Arts & Humanities Limits Artistic Expression UPDATED
The DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities has issued an amendment that sets limits on the content of their grantees' work, in clear violation of viewpoint neutrality.
Smart Tactics: Curating Difficult Content
SMART TACTICS: Curating Difficult Content examines the internal and external pressures curators must navigate when considering potentially controversial material. Combining decades of advocacy experience with extensive interviews and curatorial surveys, this volume includes both a report on what happens behind the scenes in art institutions and a handbook for confronting the challenges of curating difficult content.
Art Auction 2018
The National Coalition Against Censorship is auctioning a selection of artworks donated by generous artists.
University of Kentucky Unveils Installation to Encourage Dialogue about Race
The University of Kentucky has unveiled a new site-specific public artwork by Philadelphia artist Karyn Olivier, commissioned in response to a heated controversy around a fresco that students said was traumatizing, creating a model for balancing conflict and tensions around campus art.