Panel Discussion: A Fire in My Belly
Thursday, January 27, 6 pm
Cochrane-Woods Art Center, 5540 S Greenwood Avenue, room 157

Join the Smart Museum of Art for a panel discussion that draws together renowned experts from across the University of Chicago and beyond to offer perspectives on the issues raised by the Smithsonian's recent removal of David Wojnarowicz's "A Fire in My Belly" from the National Portrait Gallery exhibition "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture."

The discussion will touch on Wojnarowicz's work, first amendment rights, the arts and public policy, and issues of gender and sexuality.

Panelists:

Geoffrey R. Stone
Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago

Barry Blinderman
Director, University Galleries, Illinois State University

Betty Farrell
Director of the Cultural Policy Center, The Harris School, University of Chicago

Lauren Berlant
George M. Pullman Professor, Department of English, University of Chicago

Moderator:

Jenn Sichel, a PhD student in Art History at the University of Chicago and a research assistant who worked on the National Gallery of Art's exhibition "Hide/Seek."

Participants are invited to view "A Fire in My Belly" before or after the discussion. The work will be shown on continuous loop in the Smart Museum's contemporary galleries from January 4 to February 6.

For more information, please visit the Smart Museum website.