Two happened here in Indiana in the last 3-4 years:

1)  The Richmond Art Association had a terrific exhibition of the work of
Tim Hildebrandt, a sculptor from Zionsville, IN.  One of the pieces was a
cross-shape upon which was mounted a "skeleton" made from old machine parts
and other found objects--kind of a Terminator effect.   There was a brief
text accompanying the piece basically stating that life on earth as we knew
it was doomed.  The usual fundamentalist groups picketed, but the museum
stuck to its guns and did not remove the piece (although it did, at the
request of parent groups, require parental permission for students from the
attached high school to view the show).  (BTW, about 2 years later we had
the same piece in our gallery in Indianapolis and didn't get so much as a
whimper)

2)  In Anderson, IN a local artist was commissioned to do a sculpture for
the county courthouse, which he did.  It took the form of a large cauldron
with lots of guns sticking out of it.  A few months after it was installed
there was a big trial that involved a lot of shooting deaths, and the
defense attorney requested that the piece be covered for the duration of the
trial so that the jurors would not be unduly influenced by the piece as they
entered the courthouse.  The judge granted his request.


Julia Moore
Indianapolis Art Center