For
Immediate
Release
Media
contact:
Margi
Caplan
 mcaplan@smith.edu
Northampton,
MA
December
9,
2010:
Smith
College
Museum
of
Art
(SCMA)
announces
its
participation
 in
a
nationwide
protest
against
censorship,
spurred
by
the
Smithsonian
Institution
secretary
G.
Wayne
Clough’s
decision
to
remove
David
Wojnarowicz’s
1987
video
piece
 A
Fire
in
my
Belly 
from
the
National
Portrait
Gallery
exhibition
"Hide/Seek:
Difference
and
Desire
in
American
Portraiture,"
(an
exhibit
 exploring
sexual
identity)
in
response
to
political
pressure
from
Republican
leadership
in
the
House
of
Representatives
and
lobbying
by
the
Catholic
League.

The
video,
which
contains
imagery
of
ants
 crawling
over
a
crucified
Christ,
is
being
screened
in
protest
by
several
major
institutions,
along
with
 displays
of
Wojnarowicz’s
other
works.

In
support
of
this
movement,
SCMA
will
be
displaying
his
iconic
 poster
print
 Untitled
(One
day
this
kid…) 
through
December
2010
in
the
Winslow
Teaching
Gallery.
Other
participating
institutions
include
the
New
Museum
in
New
York,
the 
 Courtauld
Institute 
 of
Art
in
London,
the
Art
Institute
of
Chicago,
Indianapolis
Museum
of
Art,
and
many
smaller
museums
and
 galleries.
David
Wojnarowicz
was
an
important
force
in
the
development
of
cultural
activist
art
during
the
1980s.
Working
in
many
different
styles
and
media,
Wojnarowicz
produced
a
focused
and
unified
body
of
work
 that
creates
a
poignant
snapshot
of
its
time
(the
rise
and
recognition
of
the
AIDS
crisis
in
1980s
America),
while
also
addressing
timeless
issues:
the
repression
of
sexual
identity
and
expression,
the
 societal
discipline
and
regulation
of
the
human
body
and
human
desire,
and
links
among
sex,
violence,
 and
death.
Untitled
(One
day
this
kid.
.
.) 
exemplifies
the
intersection
of
these
issues.
The
hopeful
smiling
childhood
 portrait
of
the
artist
stands
in
stark
contrast
to
the
text
that
envelopes
him,
describing
a
bleak
fate
in
 which
he
will
be
the
victim
of
social
conditions
out
of
his
control.
The
issues
addressed
in
Wojnarowicz's
 work
are
more
than
generalized
illustrations
of
how
societal
institutions
affect
individuals.
They
are
 specific
examples
of
how
the
artist,
himself
an
HIV‐positive
gay
man,
experienced
repression
and
 violence
in
his
own
life.

The
spirit
of
the
piece,
which
both
illuminates
social
injustice
and
causes
the
 viewer
to
question
their
own
silent
complicity
in
the
societal
mistreatment
of
queer
individuals,
represents
an
apt
response
to
this
attempt
to
silence
his
message.
The
work
was
purchased
in
part
with
the
Dorius/Spofford
Fund,
created
by
Smith
College
in
order
to
 support
programs
dealing
with
issues
of
citizenship,
censorship,
creativity,
and
contemporary
political
and
social
repression
associated
with
sexual
identity
and
expression.
More
information
can
be
found
here:

 http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/36520/outraged‐museums‐ and‐artists‐unite‐in‐protest‐of‐smithsonian‐censorship/

In
addition,
a
statement
by
John
H.
Davis,
Associate
Provost
and
Dean
for
Academic
Development
and
Provost/Dean
of
Faculty,
immediately
follows.
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In
late
November,
the
National
Portrait
Gallery,
a
branch
of
the
Smithsonian
Institution,
succumbed
to
 political
pressure
from

the
House
of
Representatives
Republican
leadership
and
lobbying
by
the
Catholic
League
to
remove
a
work
of
art,
David
Wojnarowicz’s
video
collage,
 A
Fire
in
My
Belly ,
from
 their
ground‐breaking
exhibition,
“Hide/Seek:

Difference
and
Desire
in
American
Portraiture.”

Arts
 organizations
worldwide,
including
the
Association
of
Art
Museum
Directors,
have
decried
this
act
of
censorship.
Wojnarowicz
produced
 A
Fire
in
My
Belly 
in
1987,
shortly
after
his
partner
died
of
AIDS.

His
print,
Untitled
(One
Day
this
Kid…) ,
shown
here,
was
created
three
years
later,
when
downtown
New
York
City
 was
still
being
decimated
by
the
AIDS
epidemic
and
conservative
forces
were
fighting
attempts
to
 provide
treatment
and
education
on
the
grounds
that
homosexuals
and
homosexual
activity
were
“immoral.”
The
Smith
College
Museum
of
Art
purchased
 Untitled
(One
Day
this
Kid…) 
with
support
from
the
Dorius/Spofford
Fund
for
the
Study
of
Civil
Liberties
and
Freedom
of
Expression.

The
Fund
honors
former
Smith
faculty
members
Joel
Dorius
and
Edward
Spofford,
dedicated
teachers
whose
employment
 was
terminated
by
the
College
in
1961,
after
it
became
known
that
they
were
homosexual.
Freedom
of
expression
and
tolerance
are
essential
for
the
sustenance
of
open
academic
communities,
 and
the
rights
of
museums
to
present
works
of
art
from
a
variety
of
perspectives,
free
of
the
threat
of
 censorship,
must
be
preserved.

The
public
has
been
denied
access
to
one
work
by
David
Wojnarowicz.
We
hope
that
the
exhibition
of
 Untitled
(One
Day
this
Kid… )
at
the
Smith
College
Museum
of
Art
will
 serve
as
a
reminder
of
our
society’s
obligation
to
confront
the
injustices
of
the
past
and
to
ensure
that
 the
discourse
of
the
future
is
unfettered
by
inappropriate
political
pressure.
John
H.
Davis
Associate
Provost
and
Dean
for
Academic
Development
Provost/Dean
of
Faculty,
Smith
College
(December
2010)
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Image
caption:
David
Wojnarowicz
American
(1954
‐
1992)
Untitled
(One
day
this
kid...)
1990‐1991.
Photostat.
Purchased
with
funds
from
the
Dorius‐Spofford
Fund
for
the
Study
of
Civil
Liberties
and
Freedom
of
Expression
and
a
gift
from
the
Arch
W.
Shaw
Foundation,
through
the
courtesy
of
Nancy
Simonds
Shaw,
 class
of
1972,
administrator.
Image
Link:
 http://www.artinfo.com/news/enlarged_image/36520/228024/
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