The National Campaign for Freedom of Expression is an education
and advocacy network of artists, arts organizations and the
public, founded to fight censorship and to protect and extend the
First Amendment right to freedom of artistic expression. NCFE is
committed to the understanding that a true democracy must afford
the right of free artistic expression to all, including those who
might be censored because of class, race, gender, religion,
sexual orientation and all other forms of invidious
discrimination. NCFE also works on behalf of the public, who we
believe has the right to access free expression, including the
right to determine for themselves what they choose to read, see,
hear, believe.
NCFE was formed in 1990 to empower artists and activists in the
arts community to respond to the aggressive attacks waged by
right wing religious and political factions. The NCFE initially
mobilized in response to controversies over artists Andres
Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe, and the denial of grants to four
performance artists by the National Endowment for the Arts for
political reasons. Since then the assault on freedom of artistic
expression has spread to the local level from Florida to Alaska
and California to New England.
The NCFE is the only national organization exclusively dedicated
to challenging the erosion of First Amendment rights as applied
to the support, presentation, and creation of the arts in our
culture. By activating and empowering the arts community in all
its diversity, NCFE fights censorship and invigorates the
democratic process at the same time.
"I can't tell you how reassuring it is to know of your existence.
The backlash of the Right is making it even more difficult than
it previously was for the visual arts. I don't believe I'm
whining, but it seems as if visual artists get targeted even more
than others."
-Barbara Bullock
Nashville, Tennessee
"NCFE provided invaluable assistance, from public statements to
offering legal assistance, to sending an alert to the free
expression fax network. That alert resulted in several
organizations becoming involved in the fight."
-Noel Lytle
Cobb Citizens Coalition
Express Your Self Web managed by Joe Germuska
j-germuska@nwu.edu
Mission