Artist Gwyneth Leech, writing for Index on Censorship on the reaction to her re-imagined 14 Stations of the Cross which was commissioned by a Connecticut church.

On June 25th, New York’s Governor Pataki pronounced categorically that no America-bashing would be tolerated at Ground Zero and called on the Drawing Center to give assurances that it would comply. The Drawing Center responded by reaffirming commitment to its mission statement: “To demonstrate the significance and diversity of drawings throughout history; and to stimulate public dialogue on the issues of art and culture.” They then began quietly to seek out another location and have now abandoned a move to the World Trade Center site.

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If these reactions and the attacks on the Drawing Center become an entrenched cultural trend, it should be of the utmost concern to all artists. Making new connections is the very heart of art-making. Should we censor our own work to avoid offending those who do not like the connections we make?

When did it become anti-American to question the government and its policies? When did it become anti-American to question war and its consequences? Do we want to live in a world where these questions are denounced as seditious propaganda, and artists and cultural institutions are required to silence themselves?

Read the whole thing, as they say.

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