"No Trace of The Blonde"
- Artist/Author/Producer: Holly Hughes and Ellen Sebastian
- Confronting Bodies: Christian Right
- Dates of action: 1991
- Location: New York City
- Description of the Art Work
- Hughes described "No Trace of The Blonde" as exploring "the suppression
and anxiety surrounding powerful female sexuality... The work will be
created for up to five performers with two pubescent girls, black and
white, about 12 years old, as the main characters." The work's three
sources of research and inspiration would be "Carmella," a 19th-century
vampire short story; the Afro-Haitian religion Santeria; and early
20th-century surrealist women painters.
- Description of incident
- Even before "No Trace of The Blonde" had been written, the Southern
Baptist Christian Life Commission challenged the work, charging,
incorrectly, that two 12-year-olds were to cast in the NEA funded work
dealing with lesbianism. Hughe's grant was used by the religious right to
argue that Congress had not "reformed" the NEA and should remove it from
the federal budget.
- Results of incident
- Hughes released a statement refuting the far right accusations, "Neither
Ms. Sebastian or I have any intention of using actual 12-year-old or
adolescent actors in this project. These characters may be represented
by myself with another adult actor... or in some other way." Congress
voted to continue tax support for the NEA.
Source: Artistic Freedom Under Attack 1992