After images by photographer Sally Mann were removed from a Texas museum, the state is now looking at legislation that could penalize museums for displaying “certain obscene or harmful material.” House Bill 3958 is a proposed bill for the state of Texas that would fine museums up to $500,000 per item, per day on display for displaying “certain obscene or harmful material.”
The legislation, proposed by Representative David Lowe on March 6, comes after officials removed images from The Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The decades-old images depicted nude children, artwork that also drew criticism for photographer Sally Mann when the images were first published in a book in 1992. Mann later described the images, which are of her own children, this way: “These people who are unafraid to show themselves to the camera disarm me with the purity and innocence of their openness.”
In a description of the Diaries of Home exhibition, which featured artwork by women and nonbinary artists, The Modern echoed Mann’s sentiments: “In showing her children naked, moody, and in suggestive situations, Mann evokes an edgy, dark side of childhood that can be raw and unsettling.”
The images proved to be too unsettling for some viewers, and police seized some of the images from the exhibition. A jury declined any further action, but by then, the exhibition had already ended.
The proposed bill aims to fine museums for “certain obscene or harmful material.” The Fort Worth Report notes that the bill refers to the Texas Penal Code, which describes the “obscene or harmful” as material that “lacks literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”
But in a February letter to the Fort Worth Police Department, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and National Coalition Against Censorship, and ACLU Texas said that obscenity “is a legal term of art with a narrow, precise defition” – one that the Mann photographs did not meet, the organizations claimed.
The letter, while written before the proposed legislation, highlights a key issue at stake: “While like much art, the images’ meaning may be ambiguous or controversial, there is no question they are intended to provoke thought and challenge viewers to engage with ideas, not to satisfy to satisfy their sexual desires.”
Artwork is meant to evoke emotion – and not all of those emotions are pleasant ones. Some artwork is meant to make viewers uncomfortable. But uncomfortable is not the same thing as illegal.
Mann involved her children in the process of picking out images for the 1992 book and recent statements suggest her children, now adults, still support the artwork. The museum also displayed a sign at the door warning visitors of some more mature themes in the collection.
The proposed legislation could cost museums up to $500,000 a day for each artwork in question. The legislation also allows the attorney general to ask the museum to cover related legal fees as well. That could impose a significant financial burden to museums as, according to a 2024 survey, around two thirds of museum directors are concerned about funding shortfalls.
The bill is currently under review by the Committee on State Affairs; if the committee approves, the bill would then go on for further discussion and a vote by the House. If the bill makes it through the process and is signed by the governor, the law would go into effect in Texas only on September 1.
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