This paper looks at the issue of censorship in art. This paper will identify some of the most recent controversies in the art world and defend the opinion that censorship stilts freedom of expression. This paper will also look at censorship in the areas of art pertaining in public places and on the Internet. Whatever their medium or message and regardless of whether their content is unpopular or upsets some people or is of poor quality, artistic creations are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The question of whether it is appropriate for the public to subsidize all, and any, forms of art is legitimate. All art is not great and everyone does not appreciate all art. Great art is not necessarily popular and unpopular at is not necessarily great. In the best of all worlds, perhaps art should not be subsidized. But a life without art is poor. Art by definition is the highest form of expression even if it is not always pretty, or politically, or religiously, correct. Censorship, whether direct or indirect, is not the American way.
