Peace Begins at Home
- Artist/Author/Producer: Dr. Robert Tager, Shmuel Thaler, Catharina Marlowe
- Confronting Bodies: County officials
- Dates of action: May 1991
- Location: Santa Cruz, California
- Description of the Art Work
- All three removed photographs portrayed female nudity. A picture called
"Rejoice" by Dr. Robert Tager showed the upper half of a nude woman wearing
a painted Balinese mask. Also removed were Shmuel Thaler's photograph of
a woman experiencing labor pains and Catharina Marlowe's photograph of a
nude couple on a beach.
- Description of incident
- In May, 1991, three works were removed from an exhibit entitled Peace
Begins at Home at the Santa Cruz County Government Center. The county's
Director of Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services, Ben Angrove, ordered
the works removed, saying, "a set of standards rests [in a government
building] that's different from a gallery or a public place... "
County officials cited concerns that children may view the works.
lnterestingly, the County Children's Commission issued a letter after
reviewing the exhibit saying that "All Commissioners were concerned about
the probability that 'children' were 'used' to justify censorship."
- Results of incident
- As a result of the Santa Cruz controversy, applications sent to
prospective exhibitors now remind artists that their work will be
displayed in a public arena, frequented by citizens with diverse
opinions. The Santa Cruz County Arts Council also urged the County of
Santa Cruz to "strongly express support for freedom of artistic
expression... [and] make clear that conformity for its own sake is not
encouraged, and that no undue preference will be given to any particular
style or school of thought... even if that expression is occasionally
controversial and offensive to some members of our community."
Source:People for the American Way
Record no 13
