"Freedom Series" in Elgin, Illinois
- Artist/Author/Producer: Bud Madeen
- Confronting Bodies: Hemmens Auditorium building manager Ed Spurr
- Dates of action: 1993
- Location: Elgin, Illinois
- Description of the Art Work
- Bud Madeen volunteered to display several of his paintings in a
collection entitled "Freedom Series" as a complement to an Elgin Symphony
patriotic concert. The controversial painting, "Women's Liberation,"
included in a collection focusing on the American flag, features a
topless woman nursing a flag swaddled baby.
- Description of incident
- Hemmens Auditorium building manager Ed Spurr took down "Women's
Liberation" the day following the concert and locked it in a storage room
after receiving complaints from unidentified people finding the painting
offensive. According to Madeen, the work was to be displayed for the
rest of the month, but Spurr claimed it was removed prematurely to avoid
offending those who would be attending children's events at the
auditorium. Spurr said, "Because of the large group of children we had
in here, we didn't think it appropriate... to have a naked breast on
display." Madeen said, "I was mad. I happened to come in Monday just to
replenish my supply of [brochures]. One of my paintings had been taken
down."
- Results of incident
- Madeen refused offers to re-hang his painting after the children's events
had taken place and left Hemmens Auditorium with his entire exhibit.
Source: Artistic Freedom Under Attack 1994