ICA officer honored for fighting censorship

Judith Tannenbaum, associate director of the University's Institute of Contemporary Art, was awarded this week the 1991 Samuel S. Fleisher Founder's Award. Tannenbaum was honored by the foundation for her leading role in the battle against censorship surrounding the ICA's controversial Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit in 1988. "It's really gratifying to have recognition of colleagues in the art community," Tannenbaum said. "I am very touched by [the award.] I think it supports the institution and the stand we took [against censorship.]" In December 1988, an exhibit containing sexually explicit photographs by the late Robert Mapplethorpe opened in the ICA, funded by a grant of $30,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The ICA came under fire throughout the ensuing controversy from Congressional leaders and religious groups who blasted its officials for using federal money to fund the exhibit. "The whole arts community was really put on the defensive," Tannenbaum said. "[The ICA was] really at the center of the storm. It was a matter of preserving our integrity as an institution devoted to the presentation of new work." Throughout the controversy, Tannenbaum was the ICA's primary spokesperson and was in charge of articulating the ICA's position to the media and the public. That position, she said, was that Mapplethorpe's work "has artistic merit," and that "to start censoring would be counter to basic principles of American democracy." Thora Jacobson, director of the Fleisher Memorial, said that Tannenbaum was selected because she has "extraordinary integrity in the face of serious problems." "She is someone who communicates effectively both to artists and the public," she said. "She is a woman who has weathered many storms and weathered them well." ICA Director Patrick Murphy called Tannenbaum a "terrific curator," adding that the museum is "very lucky to have her." "Her cogent and clear articulation of the issues involved and of the ICA's position was exemplary," he said. Margaretta Gilboy, a Philadelphia artist, also praised Tannenbaum for her skill as a curator, outside her role in the Mapplethorpe controversy. "What is so wonderful about Judith is that she makes herself available to artists in the city," she said. "She takes an active interest in what art is being created in the city. She is accessible and down to earth."