Consider 1979 – not exactly the Victorian era – and what happened during art shows hung in the lobby of the federal courthouse at 6th and Market Streets.
There were 80 pieces of art hung that January, including 10 that contained some nudity. Afraid that “children, nuns and priest” would be scandalized, Chief Judge Joseph S. Lord ordered the paintings removed. In fact, Lord told a reporter he “detected a theme of lesbianism” in the art.
The local manager of the GSA, which actually oversees the courthouse, said he approved the show calling it “good art” and never felt it would provoke any controversy.
While this dust-up got plenty of local and national news coverage, six months later, Judge Lord’s war on nudity in the courthouse lobby, made even bigger news. This time the American Civil Liberties Union got involved and it took a magnifying glass to see the alleged smut.
A new art show included a six-foot collage of photocopied government documents. It hung for a while before someone spotted a tiny, postage stamp sized piece of the collage that sparked another brouhaha.
Lord examined the piece with a magnifying glass and declared it obscene. He saw what appeared to be a man’s hand on a woman’s hip and some suggestive words.
Lord ordered the collage removed but this time the artist and a gallery owner got an ACLU lawyer to battle for artistic integrity. The GSA had its own lawyer to fight for artistic freedom. Another federal judge ruled the collage could stay.
Judge Lord did win another battle involving a piece entitled “Secret Agent.” We don’t know exactly what the piece portrayed but it was the titled that bugged the judge. He felt it made fun of agents who might be called to testify in the building.
In a way, Judge Lord won all three battles. In the end, the nudes, the collage and “Secret Agent” were all moved from the lobby to the court’s office building where few members of the public could view them.