From the “Executive Summary” – In 1989, government arts funding in the United States came under vitriolic political attack.  In the wake of complaints about taxpayers’ money being spent on offensive, “pornographic,” or “blasphemous” works, and in the face of threatened cutoffs of funding, the National Endowment for the Arts began to retreat from supporting potentially controversial artwork.  State and local funding agencies, although less vulnerable to attack, could not help but be aware of the political risks of supporting provocative art.  As the crisis deepened, many leading arts organizations shied away from outspoken advocacy of free expression for artists and arts institutions that receive government grants.