CAA News Today

CAA and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) have released a joint letter to Pepperdine University’s president calling for the reinstallation of two censored art installations, removed from the Hold My Hand in Yours exhibition for “overly political content.” The University argued that the works—until recently on view at the university’s  Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art—placed their nonprofit status at risk. The exhibition has since been shut down by the university, and Andrea Gyorody, the museum’s director, has resigned.  

CAA and NCAC stand firm in the belief that “. . . virtually every artwork on a topical subject can be interpreted as expressing a political position. Crucially, the exhibition of an object in a University museum does not mean that the University endorses the ideas it expresses any more than teaching a text in a classroom means that this text expresses the position of the University.”  

CAA and NCAC call for reopening of the exhibition, a statement affirming the value of freedom of expression, and the development of guidelines for the exhibition of art on campus. Read the full joint letter here on NCAC’s website.   

The College Art Association fervently opposes the systemic dismantling of free speech, censorship, and retaliation for various forms of expression in US-based cultural institutions, universities, and the press.   

The most recent wave of censorship, suppression, and retaliation threatens every element of our mission and touches every single one of our constituencies—professors, curators, students, art makers, and other visual arts professionals. 

CAA believes censorship fundamentally undermines scholarship and artistic expression, and that expression, along with public discourse and dissent, is powerful and necessary in a free society. Losing those freedoms will irreparably alter defining elements of our culture. 

CAA unambiguously supports artistic and scholarly expression and believes in the principle that they must remain free from censorship and suppression. The arts and the academy are vital places of new and transformational ideas and a collective commitment to these principles has never been more urgent. 

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) released a statement regarding the October 1 White House proposal to nine universities which delineated a list of demands in exchange for receiving preferential access to research funding.

CAA stands with ACLS in the call for the immediate rejection of the “Compact for American Excellence in Higher Education” by all institutions of higher education in order to preserve academic independence.  

“Universities and colleges have one mission: to advance knowledge. Faculty carry out the mission by conducting research and teaching students. The knowledge they produce and circulate is independently assessed by professional peers. Interfering with that process by forcing knowledge to pass through a political filter is a tactic adopted by the Soviet Union and other authoritarian states. The White House is dressing up its compact as a reasonable corrective to what it views as problems in campus culture. Let no one be deceived. This proposal imposes government censorship on academia. It is anti-American, and it weakens our democracy by devaluing academic expertise.” 

Read the full statement here.  

CAA has signed on to the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) statement in opposition to the White House directive forcing Smithsonian Institution museums to subject their presentation of American history to government review to promote “American exceptionalism,” remove “divisive” narratives, and present “uplifting portrayals of American heritage” (Executive Order 14253).

“The historical materials at the Smithsonian Institution museums are intended to paint a full and accurate picture of the American experience; by forcing them to edit their exhibits at the administration’s command, the White House is engaging in authoritarian censorship. It is taking another step toward divesting in professional expertise and dismantling principles of academic freedom… he genuinely patriotic thing we can all do in this moment is to speak out on behalf of the scholars who have dedicated their lives to helping us understand our nation, and for the right of all Americans to learn about our history and culture free from government intrusion.” 

CAA remains steadfastly committed to advocating for academic freedom, fighting censorship, and promoting historical narratives and perspectives regardless of whether they are comfortable or convenient. Learning from the more difficult moments of our past is crucial for an inclusive future in which our more troubling mistakes are not repeated.

Read the full ACLS statement here.  

OTHER LEARNED SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS WHO HAVE SIGNED ON TO THIS STATEMENT 

African Studies Association
American Academy of Religion
American Anthropological Association
American Association for Italian Studies
American Association of Geographers
American Folklore Society
American Historical Association
American Philosophical Association
American Political Science Association
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
American Society for Environmental History
American Society for Theatre Research
American Society of Church History
American Studies Association
Asian American Studies
Association for Asian American Studies
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Association of University Presses
Bibliographical Society of America
German Studies Association
Linguistic Society of America
Medieval Academy of America
National Council on Public History
North American Conference on British Studies
North American Victorian Studies Association
Oral History Association
Organization of American Historians

At a moment rife with existential threats to the visual arts and higher education, CAA members, affiliates, friends, and allies can make an impact by taking direct action. It is for this reason that the CAA Advocacy Committee has assembled the following list of resources to help you get involved:

• The National Coalition Against Censorship and Vera List Center for Art and Politics coordinated along with several other stakeholders an Arts and Culture Statement of Values and Principles. CAA as an organization is a signatory, but there is power in numbers, and as individuals, we encourage you to sign on here.  

• View the Phi Beta Kappa Society Toolkit Resources page for direct action opportunities. 

• Visit the Americans for the Arts Advocate page for ways to take action.

• Find out how to contact your representatives here to make your voice heard.  

Do you have other resources CAA should consider listing on this page? Contact us via email with the subject line Direct Action Resources. For more information about CAA advocacy and our current Board-adopted advocacy policy, please visit our website.