Holly Hughes and NEA 4 in California
Holly Hughes will perform at Cal State Long Beach with the infamous NEA 4 artists (Tim Miller, Karen Finley and John Fleck) September 27 — 28 as part of a year long series examining censorship of the arts in America. It’s the first time the artists who sparked the ire of Jesse Helms and others will perform together. In addition, Hughes will be part of a documentary on the NEA 4 being created by an LA filmmaker. She’ll be conducting classes, doing interviews and panels during her five day residency in Long Beach.
Performance artists Holly Hughes, Tim Miller, John Fleck and Karen Finley– notoriously known as the ‘NEA Four’ from their role in the historic controversy over public funding and the arts – will perform over two nights at The Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of Cal State Long Beach to kick-off the theatre’s 2012 – 13 Season. On Sept. 27 at 8 pm, Holly Hughes will present Sapphic Sampler Platter, followed by Tim Miller’s Sex/Body/Self. The following night, Sept. 28, John Fleck will perform Mad Women and Karen Finley shares a first look at a work in progress titled Catch 23: Broken Negative at 8 pm.
The four artists became champions for the arts during the “culture wars” of the 1990s, and received national attention due to their legal battle that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1990, the NEA overtly vetoed the artists’ grant requests on the basis of subject matter after the artists had successfully passed through a peer review process. In 1993, the four artists won their case in the lower courts, as a federal district court declared the so-called “standards of decency” provision – which the NEA had based their denial ruling – unconstitutional. However, the case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998, and part of the case was reversed and remanded as the justices determined that “standards of decency” are constitutional criterion for federal funding of the arts.
http://www.carpenterarts.org/2012 – 2013/holly-hughes-and-tim-miller.html
http://www.carpenterarts.org/2012 – 2013/john-fleck-and-karen-finley.html