FORT WORTH, Texas — A trio of civil liberty organizations sent a letter today demanding that the Fort Worth Police Department end its unconstitutional censorship and seizure of several pieces of art that were on display at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the National Coalition Against Censorship are joining forces to demand the return of several pieces of art by Sally Mann, a renowned photographer with accolades from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Guggenheim Foundation.
“It's shameful that government officials would use the criminal legal process to censor art and expression,” said Adriana Piñon (she/her), legal director of the ACLU of Texas. “This is a clear violation of the First Amendment and of the guardrails against abuse of the criminal justice system. Artistic expression should not be subject to the whim and punishment of government officials' personal taste.”
In November 2024, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth began hosting an exhibition called “Diaries from Home,” featuring works that “explore the multilayered concepts of family, community, and home.” Included in the collection were photos from Mann’s 1990 collection “Immediate Family.” Mann’s collection featured an intimate and candid look at her family’s rural life. As she describes it, “I photographed their triumphs, confusion, harmony and isolation, as well as the hardships that tend to befall children — bruises, vomit, bloody noses, wet beds — all of it.”
Of the 65 photos in Mann’s “Immediate Family,” 13 depicted her children in the nude. The selection of nude photos displayed in the Modern reportedly included depictions of Mann’s daughter jumping onto a picnic table in a ballet pose, Mann’s daughter lying in bed with a stain from a nighttime accident, and Mann’s son with a melted popsicle running down his body.
“Anyone who's ever taken a photo of their child or grandchild taking a bath understands that not all photographs of child nudity are malicious, let alone child abuse,” said Aaron Terr (he/him), director of public advocacy at FIRE. “The seizure of Mann's works is an egregious abuse of power that dishonestly conflates artistic expression with sexual exploitation.”
The works are not the product of child abuse, and they are neither intended nor designed to excite lust in the viewer. They do what much art does — convey ideas and invite viewers to reflect on the human experience.
Nor do the works meet the legal definition of “obscenity,” an extremely narrow definition that does not apply to all depictions of child nudity. This should be common sense to anyone familiar with the iconic “Napalm Girl” photograph, National Geographic documentaries, or even major Hollywood films like the 1978 version of “Superman.”
“Immediate Family” was controversial even at its debut decades ago, but has been showcased in more than a dozen art galleries across the world, including the National Gallery of Art. But its inclusion in the Fort Worth exhibit reignited the debate when local press and politicians denounced the photos as “child pornography.” Fort Worth police seized the artwork last month ostensibly as part of an investigation into “child abuse,” even though all of Mann’s children, as adults, continued to support the collection and their mother and have never once suggested they were abused.
“Publicity stunts like this one — in which artworks that have been shown and discussed for over 30 years are suddenly the focus of an unfounded ‘investigation’ — do nothing to protect victims of child abuse, and serve only to chill the creative expressions of artists and cultural institutions by subjecting them to the threat of political prosecution and the unconstitutional seizure of artwork,” said Elizabeth Larison (she/they), director of NCAC’s Arts and Culture Advocacy Program.
Access a copy of the letter here: https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/letter_from_fire_ncac_and_aclu_of_texas_to_fort_worth_police_department_february_19_2025.pdf
