Following a criminal complaint alleging child pornography filed by Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, a Tarrant County Grand Jury will not bring charges against the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth or artist Sally Mann.
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Michael D. Anderson, an attorney at Kelly, Hart & Hallman and counsel to the Modern shared the following statement with Glasstire:
“The Modern thanks the Tarrant County Grand Jury’s thorough review in this matter. The Modern is the oldest museum in the State of Texas. It proudly serves the Fort Worth community and beyond and will continue to maintain the highest of standards.”
Sally Mann, photographs from the series “Immediate Family.”
A handful of Ms. Mann’s photographs that depict her children in the nude were at the center of the allegations. Though not part of the Modern’s permanent collection, the works were included in a recent exhibition, Diaries of Home, which featured women and nonbinary photographers and lens-based artists exploring concepts of home, family, and community. The exhibition was on view from November 17, 2024, through February 2, 2025, and the photographs in question were confirmed to have been removed from the exhibition on Tuesday, January 7.
Since then, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) issued public statements condemning the seizure of the artworks and the American Civil Liberties Union, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and NCAC penned a letter to the Fort Worth Police Department demanding the release of the photographs.
At the time of publication, the museum had not commented on the status of the artworks.
A spokesperson for FIRE told Glasstire, “The grand jury’s decision is a win for artistic freedom. The police never should have launched this baseless and shameful investigation in the first place. It’s clear as day that the First Amendment protects Sally Mann’s acclaimed photography, regardless of public officials’ personal objections to it. It’s time for the police to return the photos and focus on real public safety issues instead of trampling basic freedoms.”
NCAC shared the following statement with Glasstire:
“NCAC is relieved by a Texas grand jury’s decision not to file criminal charges against artist Sally Mann and the Fort Worth Art Museum. The criminal investigation began in early January, when several of the artist’s works that depict her children in the nude were seized by the Fort Worth Police Department, and has dragged on for months.
The Fort Worth Police Department has indicated it will return Mann’s seized artworks. While this is a positive development, as of this writing, the timeline for the return of the artworks has not been clarified, and every day that the artworks remain in police custody extends the continued wrongful deprivation of arts audiences who would like to see the works, and a continued violation of the First Amendment.”
Elizabeth Larison, the Director of the Arts & Culture Advocacy Program at the NCAC, commented, “While this is the outcome we hoped for and expected, it does nothing to diminish the fact that these artworks were needlessly removed from public view, and have been held hostage for three and a half months as part of a frivolous criminal investigation. It also cannot undo the chill upon artistic expression that has spread as a result.”
March 27, 2025: This article has been updated to include a statement from the National Coalition Against Censorship.
1 comment
The actual damages done to both Ms .Mann and the Museum must now be pursued.
This illegal seizure of Artworks is a crime, and the actions and false accusations by extremist religious fanatics cannot go unpunished. Please file a $50 Million lawsuit to both recover real damages from defamation, loss of trade, false statements, and arguably the most egregious, the shocking actions by law enforcement to unilaterally “decide” to steal works of Art must be pursued. While the Museum has not sought this negative exposure, it is now in a position to deter future abuses by the only means possible: financial penalties.