For the second time in a week, a portion of an art exhibit that promotes Domestic Violence Awareness Month disappeared from the display space at Boulder (Colo.) Public Library. Officials noted that the sculpture of a nude female torso created by artist Carolyn Anewich was missing late in the afternoon on November 19. The torso, slightly dirty but otherwise unharmed, was recovered two days later from a dumpster, according to the November 22 Rocky Mountain News.
The apparent theft came eight days after the removal of “Hung Out to Dry,” a work comprised of 21 colorfully painted ceramic penises from the same exhibit; a 49-year-old Boulder man has since been charged with misdemeanor criminal tampering for the earlier act. “We don’t know if it’s connected,” Boulder Sergeant Roy Johnson told the newspaper of the torso’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, a controversy that preceded the exhibit flap has motivated U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) to introduce October 31 the Freedom to Be a Patriot Act (H.R. 3201), which would deny federal funds to any entity that prohibits the display of the American flag. Tancredo explained to House members in mid-November that while the BPL board agreed to host the phallic display, “an American flag was not approved to put up because it might offend somebody.”
Posted November 26, 2001.