She Nourishes (painting)
Date: 2002
Region: North America
Subject: Nudity
Medium: Painting Public Art
Artist: Shawn Dell Joyce
Confronting Bodies: Stewart Airport Administrators
Date of Action: February 2002
Location: Newburgh, New York, USA
Description of Artwork: Joyce's painting, She Nourishes, shows a woman breast-feeding. The woman's breast is partially covered by the child's mouth. It is part of a larger piece with three other panels: one showing a mountainous horizon, another with children praying and one with two people in a boat.
The Incident: She Nourishes was part of an exhibit in Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York. Officials removed the painting after recieving 15 complaints in two days. A spokesperson for the airport, Kiran Jain, stated, "we reacted to this particular thing in the same way we would if someone told us the door knob in the men's room was broken."
Results of Incident: Following the painting's removal 40 stroller-wheeling mothers protested outside the airport terminal. The protest recieved mixed reviews from passersby. Some showed support while others averted their eyes.
Source: The New York Times, 2/28/2002