Daytona State College Censors Photography Exhibition

As nonpartisan organizations devoted to freedom of speech, thought, and inquiry, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU-FL), and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) are deeply disturbed by experiences indicating that Daytona State College canceled an upcoming exhibition on the college’s Southeast Museum of Photography as a result of it refers to racialized police violence within the United States.

Stranger Fruit was to be on show at Daytona State College’s Southeast Museum of Photography (SMP) from January 11 via April 15, 2023, and is a solo images exhibition by artist Jon Henry that had been in growth for over two years and obtained a grant from the Florida Division of Arts and Culture. Responding to high-profile circumstances of racialized police violence, Stranger Fruit focuses on the maternal and familial loss that endures far longer than media consideration and felony trial proceedings that accompany such tragedies.

In December 2022, a museum worker wrote the artist to elucidate that the exhibition would should be indefinitely canceled as a result of current HVAC points that resulted in constructing leaks.  However, in August of 2023, the artist obtained an nameless letter from a former worker stating that the true purpose for the cancellation was the present’s content material and that the Daytona State College administration felt the exhibition’s topic was at odds with the college’s small police coaching program.

As a public college, Daytona State College is topic to the First Amendment crucial to not discriminate in opposition to concepts primarily based on their viewpoint. NCAC, ACLU-FL, and FIRE urge Daytona State College to reschedule the exhibition as quickly as potential.

Read our full joint letter to Daytona State College right here:

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