The students who
created "Plan B," a Brooklyn, N.Y., art exhibit
that was shut down by city officials have vowed to file a
lawsuit on free speech grounds, reports the Associated
Press. The art was created by students at Brooklyn
College, which is part of the City University of New
York system.
The exhibit,
displayed at a public war memorial, was deemed too racy
by the city. It included representations of male genitalia,
watercolor paintings of gay sex, and a live rat. It
was housed in the city-owned Brooklyn War Memorial
until the city parks department shut it down the day
after it opened last week.
Civil rights
attorney Norman Siegel, a 1965 Brooklyn College graduate,
said he will represent the students in a First Amendment
suit against the city, the parks department, and the
college administration. "A clear message must be sent
to the [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg administration that
government is not the appropriate body to judge the value of
art," Siegel told the AP.
The college moved
the artwork on Monday and planned to keep it on campus
until it could be installed in space donated by a developer,
school spokeswoman Colleen Roche said in an e-mail.
She would not comment on a "hypothetical" lawsuit. The
18-student show, participation in which is a
graduation requirement, is the thesis for the master's of
fine arts degree and had been scheduled to run through
May 25. (The Advocate)
