Mary Loeffler (painting)
Artist: Mary Loeffler
Year: 2003
Date of Action: May 2013
Region: North America
Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Subject: Nudity
Medium: Painting
Confronting Bodies: Principal Dottie Sievert at Wheeling High School
Description of Artwork: 17-year-old Mary Loeffler painted a life-sized work with a naked left breast.
The Incident: The high school principal deemed the painting disruptive to the learning environment, and ordered the painting be removed from the school lobby. The painting was subsequently re-displayed with a piece of fluorescent paper covering the breast.
Results of Incident: Students were outraged by the school's censorship of their peer's artwork and protested in a number of capacities. The National Coalition Against Censorship got involved in the case, releasing statements saying that the covering of the work made it obscene.
Source:
School tries to patch up student art controversy: Wheeling High School officials' response to a student's revealing self-portrait has sparked a schoolwide controversy about censorship. May 10, 2003 | By Colleen Mastony, Chicago Tribune staff reporter.
High school artist Mary Loeffler wanted her self-portrait to make a statement about freedom and women's bodies. Instead, it prompted a schoolwide discussion about age-appropriate art and censorship. Loeffler, 17, painted a life-size portrait of herself wearing a bright red dress with her left breast exposed. On Wednesday, she hung the painting in the lobby outside the Wheeling High School cafeteria.