Arts Advocacy Project


NCAC’s art program, launched in 2000, remains the only national project dedicated to working directly with individual artists and curators involved in censorship disputes.  Its main goal is to protect artists’ rights to participate in the democratic dialogue by defending public access to their work and supporting their ability to freely express views that might be unpopular or controversial.

The project has been singularly successful in resolving controversies through education and advocacy, avoiding the need for legal action. Our work within the framework of a larger anti-censorship organization capitalizes on the fact that controversial issues are not confined to one medium or one social sphere: we can trace, for instance, a current hostility towards political dissent expressed in the separate worlds of art, academia, and the mass media. Our work with different constituencies allows us to find a wide base of support in some cases that would normally only mobilize a single intrest group.  We are in a unique position to connect the dots and speak to the very real problem of censorship in the United States.

While interventions in individual cases are the most important and unique part of our work, they are combined with (and inseparable from) systematic efforts to analyze censorship trends, prepare artists to become their own advocates, as well as teach the general public about the importance of free speech. To that end we produce educational materials and organize educational programs that emphasize artists’ rights and offer tactics to counter censorship attempts.

Censorship has been around for as long as there has been creative expression; no doubt, censorship attempts will be part of our future. However, the degree of public support for free speech has always made a difference – the difference between silent repression and a lively debate. We keep the debate not only alive, but healthy.

For more information, contact Arts Program Director Svetlana Mintcheva
(212) 807 - 6222 x 23 or svetlana@ncac.org

Resources for Individuals and Organizations


» Art, Free Expression & the Law: a database of legal cases in the arts

» The File Room: a catalogued archive of censorship cases

» ART NOW The Patriotism of Dissent: Artists Responding to the Political Present

» A Selective Timeline of Censorship in the USA 1989 - 2002

» NCFE Handbook to Understanding, Preparing for and Responding to Challenges to Your Freedom of Artistic Expression

» Inform Yourself on Free expression policies

» Censorship in Camouflage discussion series. The issues covered include censorship though funding, self-censorship, artistic freedom in a global economy and political correctness.


Art Censorship Incidents


For reports on individual art censorship incidents, go to the art archive. If you are interested in a particular type of art censorship, you can find more information in our issues pages.