New NCAC guide helps artists navigate censorship and defend artistic freedom

The National Coalition of Artists Against Censorship (NCAC) has released “The Artist’s Guide to Defending Artistic Freedom,” a free resource outlining strategies for artists facing institutional censorship. The guide responds to a surge in show cancellations and deinstallations across the US, including the 2024 cancellation of Samia Halaby’s retrospective at Indiana University Bloomington’s Eskenazi Museum of Art, Amy Sherald’s withdrawal of her traveling survey from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery over alleged pressure to remove a painting, and the early 2025 shuttering of Victor Quiñonez’s solo show at the University of North Texas’s College of Visual Art & Design Gallery nine days after opening. Written by Elizabeth Larison, Minji Lee, and Svetlana Mintcheva, the guide advises artists to remind institutions that avoiding controversy can erode public trust, and to harness the “Streisand Effect” if institutions refuse to budge. It also addresses museum workers, encouraging them to provide platforms for challenging work. The guide is available for free download on the NCAC website, which includes a form to report suppression. Larison notes a shift in institutional climate, with curators on college campuses facing pressure from state governments enforcing broad interpretations of anti-DEI executive orders. The NCAC recommends involving the American Civil Liberties Union or the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression if government entities are involved.