Friday, March 27, 2026
2:00PM - 6:00PM
Reception to Follow
The Kernochan Center's 4th Annual Art Law Symposium, "Censorship in the Visual Arts: Who Controls the Narrative?" focuses on the effects of censorship on the arts, in past and present. Registration is now closed.
AGENDA
2:00-2:10 PM
Welcome
2:10-4:00 PM
Panel 1. What Do We Mean by Censorship?
A. What Is the Law?
1. First Amendment
2. Current Legal Battles
3. Defining Community
4. Social Media Issues
B. Governmental
1. Control Through Funding
a. The NEA Battles
b. Tax Concerns
C. Institutional
1. Who Controls the Museums?
2. The Concerns of Governmental and Non-Profit Museums
Panel 2. The Role of Museums
A. Why Do Museums Matter?
B. Universal Museums and the Histories They Tell
C. Museums as Community Spaces
D. Who Are the Stakeholders?
4:00-4:15
Break
4:15-5:00
Panel 3. Censorship in the Exhibition of Art
A. Public vs. Private Spaces
B. What Can Be Shown in Print vs. at an Exhibition?
C. Reasons For and Against Display
5:00-6:00
Panel 4. Artists Responses
A. Access to Government Funds
B. Institutional Representation
C. Market Impact
D. Self-Censorship
E. What Are the Boundaries Around Photographic Images?
PANELISTS
Amy Adler
Emily Kempin Professor of Law, NYU School of Law
Michael Famighetti
Editor in Chief, Aperture Magazine
Karen Finley
Artist and Professor, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Coco Fusco
Artist, Author and Professor, Cooper Union School of Art
Cathy Kaplan
Professor, Columbia Law School
Kristen Lubben
Executive Director, Magnum Foundation
Susan Meiselas
Photographer and President, Magnum Foundation
Anne Pasternak
Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Brooklyn Museum
Philippa Loengard
Professor, Columbia Law School, & Executive Director, Kernochan Center
Renee Romano
Professor, CUNY School of Professional Studies & Oberlin College
Lee Rowland
Executive Director, National Coalition Against Censorship