A statue commemorating the time Michael Jackson dangled his baby son out of a Berlin hotel window was unveiled in London this week. L.A. artist Maria Von Köhler has received death threats for the statute, entitled "Madonna and Child". Others have asked that the installation be removed. Enraged fan krazy4kitties asks, "This is disgraceful. What kind of person would do [...]
The arrest of Ai Weiwei at Beijing Capital Airport on April 3 is an assault on socially engaged artists everywhere. Read NCAC's statement and find out how to add your voice.
LA MOCA, newly headed by New York transplant Jeffrey Deitch, whitewashed a mural painted by internationally known street artist BLU. The mural, originally commissioned by MOCA for their upcoming Art in the Street exhibit, faces the Veterans Administration healthcare building on Temple Street in Downtown Los Angeles.
A photograph of a male nude by Savannah College of Art & Design student Nicole Craine was among the several artworks taken down before an Open Studio Exhibition at the school in October. Reportedly, the students were given no explanation as to why their work was taken down. College administrators later admitted that the content would be “unacceptable” for a [...]
What began as a heated protest over Enrique Chagoya’s artwork at the Loveland Museum in Colorado has ended in vandalism. A disgruntled woman ripped into Chagoya’s controversial lithograph “The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals” after she busted the artwork’s plexiglass case with a crowbar. City council members, religious groups and individuals had hoped that the public pressure caused by the [...]
What began as a heated protest over Enrique Chagoya's artwork at the Loveland Museum in Colorado has ended in vandalism. A disgruntled woman ripped into Chagoya's controversial lithograph after she busted the artwork's plexiglass case with a crowbar. City council members, religious groups and individuals had hoped that the public pressure caused by the artwor's racy religious content would get Chagoya's piece yanked from the government-funded museum.
In July, 2010, NCAC joins The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, The Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, and The Pennsylvania Center for The First Amendment in a friend of the court brief in the Supreme Court in support of the right to protest.
On July 8, 2010, the NCAC joined Texas Civil Rights Project, First Amendment Project, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, The Arthouse at the Jones Center, and Big Umbrella Studios in filing a friend of the court brief to the Supreme Court in support of an art display in Texas (Kleinman v. City of San Marcos).
NCAC is protesting the censorship of an artwork to be displayed at a city-owned gallery in Temecula, CA. Jeff Hebron’s painting, which had been selected for inclusion in Visual Expressions 2010, was removed from the exhibition because it depicted a nude figure.
The removal of "Walking Man" from the public space in front of the Anton Art Center because of individual complaints is a disturbing violation of both the artist's free speech and the rights of the public to have access to a wide variety of artistic expression ("Mount Clemens has gallery move nude statue indoors," June 23).
Statement from the National Coalition Against Censorship Regarding the Recent Removal of an Artwork from an Exhibition at BGSU Firelands’ Little Gallery The recent removal of artwork by James Parlin from an exhibition of sculpture in the Little Gallery at Bowling Green State University Firelands is an unacceptable violation of the academic freedom to openly discuss ideas and social problems [...]
In an email to faculty BGSU Interim Provost stated that “the piece was initially removed so that [] legal review could occur.” Apparently, BGSU administrators wondered whether “the sculpture constituted child pornography or breached restrictions on depictions of child abuse.”
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UNCW Resigns Brian Chapman, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, resigned this week after a less than a year-long tenure. The resignation came shortly after the UNCW Faculty Senate passed a motion admonishing the UNCW administration for not consulting with the Women's Resource Center, [...]
Rosemary DePaolo Chancellor UNC Wilmington 601 South College Road Wilmington, N.C. 28403-3297 [email protected] February 27, 2009 Dear Chancellor DePaolo- On behalf of the National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of over 50 national non-profit organizations united in defense of free expression, I would like to express deep concern over the removal of a substantial part of The Century Project photo [...]
The art work of four art students at Ceres’ Central Valley High School (Ceres, CA) was rejected from the annual Young Masters Art Show. The Art Show, hosted by the Mistlin Gallery in downtown Modesto, CA, features the work of young people ages 1 through 18. Art teachers are allowed to submit 20 pieces (two per student), with all entries [...]
Were there times you were afraid to speak up? Do you sometimes wish you spoke your mind more? Do you wish you censored yourself more? Have you changed what you’ve written for fear it would get you into trouble? In your art, music, writing, or filmmaking do you ever stop yourself from doing what you want because you are [...]
In a highly publicized incident this March, the San Francisco Art Institute cancelled Don't Trust Me, an exhibition by Algerian-born French artist Abdel Abdessemed consisting of video footage of animals being killed by a single blow from a sledgehammer.
by Roland Stoy for The Reporter UPDATE: The painting was later showen at an art show less than a block away from the courthouse. According to the artist: "Everyone that saw the painting appreciated it and some folks had strong words for the courthouse officials that pulled the art from exhibit. I felt it was a real coup to display [...]
Mansfield, CT Some decisions to take down artwork after individual complaints are made hastily and put government officials in a precarious situation. In such cases it is crucial for supporters of free expression to speak up! A recent case proves this point: In February 2007 the Mansfield Community Center in Mansfield, CT removed three pieces of art on display at [...]
We were disturbed to learn that a photo collage by George Jacobi and two sculptures by Eda Easton have been removed from the Mansfield Community Center because of individual complaints. We urge you to return the work to display as soon as possible.
Below is NCAC's letter to the Centro Cultural Aztlan; for background, click here. The recent removal of Anna-Marie Lopez's work from a show at the Centro Cultural Aztlan has shaken belief in the Centro’s real commitment to the representation of a diversity of Chicano voices and has led many in the community to suspect that the Centro is censoring artists’ [...]
Countless words have been spilled over the Danish newspaper JyullandsPosten's publication last September of 12 cartoons commenting on journalistic self-censorship and Islamic beliefs, including several that caricatured the prophet Muhammad. Surely, everything has been said by now. Yet the controversy rages on: Is this an easy case for freedom of expression? Should there be no acquiescence in demands by some Muslims, [...]
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law Free Expression Policy Project December 2005 Are increasingly heavy assertions of control by copyright and trademark owners smothering fair use and free expression? The product of more than a year of research, Will Fair Use Survive? paints a striking picture of an intellectual property system that is perilously out of balance. Read [...]
Read the report below; click here for a full screen view.
August 16, 2004 Mayor John W. Hickenlooper 1437 Bannock Street, Ste. 350 Denver, Colorado 80202 Dear Mayor Hickenlooper, The National Coalition Against Censorship, an alliance of 50 national non-profit organizations that collaborate to defend First Amendment rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, have been alerted to the recent removal of several works of art from an installation [...]
The Super Imposer Removed from Fairfield Center for Creative Arts Fairfield, CA Jim Kimberly's sculpture, "The Super Imposer," was removed from the Juried Art Show at the gallery of the Fairfield Center for Creative Arts in Fairfield, CA because it was considered politically controversial. The interactive sculpture, a two-sided panel with the American Flag on one side and Osama bin [...]
Nevada County, CA Show Cancelled Because of Nudes October 1, 2003 The work of 65 artists is to be taken down from Annual Open Studios Art show in California’s Nevada County Rood Administrative Center. The reason: the work of five of the artists contains partial nudity. Two of the paintings contain nudes viewed from the rear, the three other paintings [...]
While galleries and museums could choose to avoid controversy and exclude potentially controversial art, the Internet, with its wide accessibility ...
Read the report below; click here for a full screen view.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York, NY March 21, 2001 Today, the National Coalition Against Censorship is urging the Tennessee Arts Commission to reconsider its apparent policy of banning all artwork containing nude figures from the TAC Gallery located in Nashville. The Tennessee Arts Commission and its gallery are funded by the State of Tennessee and the National Endowment [...]
Always on the alert for "offensive" art work, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has once more found a target: the work of Spanish artist Antoni Miralda exhibited at Copia, Napa Valley's new food, wine and arts museum. The exhibition, "Active Ingredients," which runs through April 22, features specially commissioned food-related works by seven contemporary artists. Miralda, a [...]
The Hyde Park post office started hosting the Artist of the Month program, giving local artists the opportunity to display their work for an entire month in a place that draws hundreds of people per day. The works were on display in a special window in the building's lobby.
Dear Mr Viola, We are writing to urge you to restore the Artist of the Month program to the Hyde Park Post Office. It is our understanding that you cancelled the year-old program as a way to deal with one complaint regarding Fatgirl, the painting chosen to present the work of Audrey Francis, November Artist of the Month. There are [...]
The National Coalition Against Censorship, the ACLU of Southern California, The First Amendment Project of Oakland, CA and a large number of local and national artists announced that they are protesting the removal of Alex Donis' exhibition, "WAR," from the Watts Towers Art Center. Alex Donis, WAR. Shadow and Sergeant Kooney (oil and enamel on plexi) The show, which [...]
The Elsie May Goodwin Art Center, run by the Stockton Art League, rejected a sculpture by one of its members—Vincent Mazo—because the piece was too anatomically explicit. The gallery has no policy excluding nudes, but, according to Aleen Gall, the gallery manager, the nudes normally exhibited are female and show no genitals. Interesting, I thought genitals were a part of [...]
Orchard Artworks, a Bryn Athyn, PA art gallery, removed six works by Linda Griffith from an exhibit that opened September 21, 2001. The work was considered "too political" for the gallery. The exhibit, "Uncertain Future: Earth Found, Used and Abused," focused on environment issues. Griffith's photographs committed the sin of bringing issues of environment abuse too close to home. The [...]
A computer-edited photo collage by Los Angeles artist Alma López triggered a heated controversy in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Santa Fe Community College Gainesville, FL March 21, 2001 Under pressure from the Catholic League and the local community, four works in the exhibition "Pat Payne: A look at Violence in Religious and Sexual Imagery" (February 8 - March 29, 2002) at the Santa Fe Community College Gallery were moved to a professor's office. Pat Payne's work blends sexual bondage [...]
The Benham Gallery Seattle, WA March 21, 2001 This February, exhibiting photographer Patricia Ridenour took her photographs down from the walls of the Benham Gallery when, at the opening, she found her work removed from the front gallery to the back room. The work in question (Ridenour's sixth show in 12 years at Benham, and decidedly not the first to [...]
