The Mapplethorpe Demonstration - Twenty Years Later

Panel Discussion

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 6:30pm
(doors open at 6:00pm) Cover of Artforum, September 1989. Photo © Frank Herrera

Join the Warehouse Gallery and Theater to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the event with a presentation featuring two of the original organizers of the demonstration, Andrea Pollan (curator, writer, and Director of Curator's Office) and Bill Wooby (local arts entrepreneur and visionary) as well as former WPA Trustee and First Amendment rights attorney, Jim Fitzpatrick. The discussion will be moderated by Andy Grundberg, chair of the photography department at the Corcoran College of Art & Design and former art critic for The New York Times.

Panelists will discuss the assault on the National Endowment for the Arts and its lasting effects, issues of censorship, the story behind the demonstration, and how the WPA came to present the exhibition.

The panel discussion will be followed by a reception in the Warehouse Café (cash bar) with many of the event's original participants and the opportunity to purchase a limited-edition t-shirt featuring an image created by artist Scott Bennett for the 1989 demonstration.

This event is free and open to the public.

Warehouse Gallery and Theater
1021 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20001