City Officials Censor Brooklyn College Art Students

An art exhibit containing works by 18 Brooklyn College graduate students was closed down last Thursday by New York City officials. Brooklyn Parks Commissioner, Julias Speigel, ordered the show closed the day after it opened on the grounds that the exhibit contained works that were deemed inappropriate for families. The exhibit was scheduled to run through May 25th.

"Nobody communicated to the students that any of the art was going to be removed this morning," said exhibit artist Zoe Cohen. "We don't consent to any of this."

Officials claim that the college violated a verbal agreement that stated that art shown at the WWII Memorial Hall, located near the Brooklyn Bridge, would be appropriate for families. Some of the art that was deemed offensive included a sculpture of a human hand holding a penis, a watercolor of a man's torso which included a narrative of a gay sex encounter and a piece that incorporated a live rat.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has had a long record of supporting public art, is backing Speigel's decision to remove the exhibit.

"Nobody's suggesting that anybody shouldn't be allowed to exhibit art," Mr. Bloomberg told the New York Times. "The issue here is that this is not a museum. This is a war memorial. There has been an understanding ever since art was put here that the art would be appropriate for families and respectful of and appropriate for a war memorial and this time it was not."

Norman Siegel, an attorney now working for the students, is adamant that the student's free speech rights have been violated.

"I think what's happening here illustrates a serious misunderstanding of the First Amendment of the Constitution," Siegel said. "The government cannot excise certain artistic visions simply because a public official dislikes them or finds them inappropriate. It's censorship plain and simple."

Siegel plans to file suit later this week in federal court. In the meantime, the students are maintaining a blog with updates on the situation. Check it out at www.plancensored.blogspot.com.