In today's Washington Post magazine, the staff identifies 25 moments that shaped Washington over the past 25 years. One of them was the Corcoran Gallery of Art's show "The Perfect Moment" featuring works by American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. In stepped Sen. Jesse Helms to protest the fact that NEA funds had been used to mount the same exhibition in Philadelphia. He protested the use of tax dollars to subsidize material he felt was inappropriate. Federal law prohibited the NEA from interfering with the content of any art its money supported - but the Corcoran's leaders made the politically expedient choice to cancel the show - and we are still feeling the impacts of that decision to this day. The Corcoran lost a $1.5 million donation as a direct response to their action.
I am making no comment on the content of Mapplethorpe's work - that's not the point. Art is designed to make us think - not just tell us what we want to hear. If it is controled by politics, it cannot be free to fulfill its role.
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