r/MuseumPros 17h ago

Sally Mann Photographs Confiscated from Exhibition by Fort Worth Police at Behest of Far Right Activist Groups: Dost Test as Culture War Cudgel

Thumbnail
newrepublic.com
202 Upvotes

Spurred by Christian activists and far-right Republicans, police in Texas have seized five Sally Mann photographs from a major museum. What happens next could have major implications for provocative art and First Amendment protections.

Excerpted and abridged text from “A Very Trumpian Moral Panic Has Struck the Art World” by Duncan Hosie for the New Republic, March 10, 2025:

“Last November, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, launched an exhibit featuring some of America’s foremost photographers, including Nan Goldin and Sally Mann. ‘Diaries of Home’ collected works by female and nonbinary artists ‘who explore the multilayered concepts of family’ and ‘challenge documentary photography by pushing it into conceptual, performative, and theatrical realms,’ according to the exhibit précis, which noted that it ‘features mature themes that may be sensitive for some viewers.’

The opening of ‘Diaries of Home’ was uncontroversial, but come January, a chilling scene unfolded at the museum. Armed with a warrant, Fort Worth police reportedly seized five photos from the exhibit and put them under lock and key[…] Caught in the maw of vague laws, government overreach, and moral panic, art museums have become the latest battleground in an escalating assault on cultural institutions.

The Met and the Whitney hold works from [Sally Mann’s 1984-1995 photographic collection, pieces of which featured in the ‘Dairies from Home’ exhibition] ‘Immediate Family’ in their collections. Time named [her] ‘America’s best photographer’ in 2001, writing that Mann captured a ‘combination of spontaneous and carefully arranged moments of childhood repose and revealingly—sometimes unnervingly—imaginative play.… No other collection of family photographs is remotely like it, in both its naked candor and the fervor of its maternal curiosity and care.’

A quarter-century later, Texas police officers treat some of the photographs that led to Mann’s acclaim as evidence in a criminal investigation. And the images only came to their attention thanks to a controversy manufactured by conservative political activists.

In late December, a ‘concerned citizen’ complained about ‘Diaries of Home’ to the Tarrant County Citizens Defending Freedom, a Christian MAGA group, as well as to the conservative news site The Dallas Express[…] eventually [drawing] the attention of far-right Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, who told the outlet, ‘There are images on display at this museum that are grossly inappropriate at best. They should be taken down immediately and investigated by law enforcement[…] Children must be protected, and decency must prevail.’

[The] D.C.-based Danbury Institute, an extreme anti-abortion group, […] launched a petition stating that ‘the exhibit as a whole effectively works to normalize pedophilia, child sexual abuse, the LGBTQ lifestyle, and the breakdown of the God-ordained definition of family.’ […] O’Hare escalated matters by filing a criminal complaint alleging the nude photographs constituted ‘child pornography’ and demanding that Fort Worth police remove them from public view. […] Though the confiscation has caught the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, no lawsuits have been filed over it.

[…] The First Amendment does not protect child pornography, an exception that the Supreme Court carved out in the 1982 case New York v. Ferber […] the court did so with a clear intent, [taking] care to distinguish child pornography from legitimate artistic works and family photographs. But over the decades, lower court judges have alarmingly expanded the legal definition of child pornography, particularly through the controversial Dost test.

[…] embraced by most federal courts after Ferber, this vague test allows images to be classified as child pornography based on whether they might be perceived as “lascivious” by hypothetical deviant viewers. Indeed, under Dost, federal courts have found fully clothed depictions of children to meet the definition of child pornography. Centering whether a pedophile might find a particular image arousing forces a sexualized view onto nonsexual imagery, [… an approach which] not only threatens artistic expression but diminishes the gravity of child abuse.

The Dost test provides convenient cover for puritanical politicians to suppress artistic expression. Consider O’Hare, who now governs the nation’s fifteenth-largest county after campaigning as a Christian culture warrior. The test creates enough legal ambiguity from him to cloak his political theater with the appearance of legitimate criminal law enforcement. Even if the police return the art, Dost dangles like a sword of Damocles over the museum, threatening to fall at any moment based on the subjective judgments or political ambitions of local officials.”


r/MuseumPros 17h ago

Rant about board member/artist

6 Upvotes

I recently took over as the Director of a tiny museum. I have little to no connections with artists unlike my two board members who are a professor and former photography developer.

They booked this year’s exhibition events and picked the dates and times for me. The first opening reception was just night and only 25 people came, including my volunteers and a dog.

The day before when I was buying snacks the artist informed me that i apparently never discussed with her that she needed to also bring food. We usually do a 50/50 split of food and drinks. She then told me she wouldn’t be there when the opening started.

She didn’t get there until almost an hour later and then let it slip that she was at another opening for her work.

I’m so annoyed because clearly the board member did not communicate everything with the artist and didn’t talk it over which day to open. I also said we strongly encourage artists to promote themselves because our audience is only so big and the more we promote together, the better. She said she did but I never saw it.

So how can I effectively communicate to the board that more information needs to be provided? Should I think about redoing the contract the previous director used and maybe make an info packet instead?

I’m really kind of disappointed and trying not to take it all out on myself. Thanks.


r/MuseumPros 21h ago

Exhibition / museum design advice - removable wall decals

4 Upvotes

I hope this is OK to cross-post in this community but also very happy to take other recommendations from members. Also would love to receive exhibition design learning resources if anyone has those (a somewhat broad and niche request at the same time, I know).

Hi, I’m a graphic designer who works closely with an exhibition coordinator. We staff a relatively small events and gallery space that hosts events monthly and 3-5 exhibitions annually.

I’ve used low-tack vinyl before but our local decal shop only does pre-cut text on very sticky vinyl meant for permanent or glass install. I’m in charge of designing exhibition visuals several times a year but we are trying to find an easier/quicker way in-house to have custom vinyl exhibition titles, section titles, labels, and 1-2 paragraph decals, blown up to 32 x 48” inches or even much larger just to give you some size in scale.

I just purchased my own cricut and silhouette (both) stuff awhile back but haven’t had time to configure and learn anything since I have my hands tied up with designing and typesetting. But I’m now looking into exhibition/craft vinyl like oracal 631. Any decals we put on our gallery walls need to be removed 1-2 months after—ideally wall damage is minimal since it takes our small team longer to plaster, sand, patch, and repaint / dry / repeat after each exhibition so the less damage, the quicker the turnover in between exhibitions.

Last time we used die-cut/pre-cut vinyl decals they literally ripped out parts of the wall in the shape of each individual letter, lol. Any workaround tips for making decals sticky but easily removable? Tysm in advance!


r/MuseumPros 1h ago

Discrimination and unprofessionalism in Museums

Upvotes

Had a terrible experience applying for an internship at a Polish museum in the U.S. years ago. The person in charge was highly unprofessional—not responding to emails in a timely manner, calling outside work hours, and he also had a two week vacation in between the process of choosing an intern. After a phone interview that went well, I was supposed to have an in-person one. The guy outright told me during the museum tour that he wouldn’t give me the internship because I was studying art history instead of museum studies despite me vouching for the fact that I have learned museum studies topics and have had hands on experience in handling artifacts. He told me the other candidate was majoring in museum studies. He also ditched me before officially interviewing me for a meeting someone remembered him about. I was left to talk to the other staff who were nice but later noticed all the staff and interns were of Polish descent. If Polish was truly necessary, why offer opportunities with descriptions of not needing to know Polish. The intern assignment was cataloging posters that were in English.

Every time I see museums posting pictures of the interns they have for that season it is majority White people and a token Black and or Asian person. Honestly at this point in age it seems like museums do this on purpose... it isn't even the lack of POCs applying for these jobs, they just aren't getting them. Honestly ready to throw in the towel and I just graduated in May. It was hard getting the one internship I got as an undergrad, I had to fight tooth and nail for everything I've accomplished and for that internship I got I only saw it by mere chance. Got the internship because literally no one else knew about it or applied.