Cultural historians often ask how the concerns of an era shape a society. And the best insights are revealed, not through clarity of connection, unity of expression, or dominant ideology, but through the chaos and disruption caused by the dissenting voice. It is often when an artist is most at odds with his world, most subject to critical debate, that we glimpse society's dominant values, giving way to the cultural consciousness of the time. “One of the greatest values ​​of artists and humanists to a society lies in the mirror of self-examination which they hold up so that society may become aware of its own shortcomings as well as its own strengths,” stated the 1965 Senate Report on Creation of the National Endowments of the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment of Humanities (NEH) (Children, 2). This is the artist's task, to make us, all of society, reflect on who we are and who we are becoming. Art, just like any other production of public discourse, is there to persuade us to look at our lives and act accordingly. . And although they do not explicitly say what our course of action should be, they will tell us through their brushstrokes, their sculptures or their texts. Likewise, the artist creates a bond with the viewer in expressing his or her innermost beliefs, and by watching, hearing, or seeing the artist's work, we are immediately connected. We feel what the artist feels. Thus, how can an artist reveal to us his or her innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires if the work is first dismantled and then reassembled because some third party believes the artist's message or method of "speaking to us" is unsuitable? Some people believe that the government has the right to interpose itself between the artist and the viewer to de... middle of paper... License: Censorship and the Visual Arts. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.Fisher, Taylor; Andromeda Hartwick; Barrie Jo McQuary; Jody Riskowski. Questionnaire to 33 respondents via the World Wide Web. October 14-17, 2001. Hull, Mary E. Censorship in America: A Reference Handbook. Studies on the contemporary world. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 1999.Johnson, Cheryl. Personal interview. October 10, 2001. Cheryl is the mother of two children, a 3-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy. Johnson, O. Thomas. Personal interview. October 10, 2001.Nunzum, Eric. “A Brief History of Banned Music in the United States.” Music prohibited. December 2000. September 28, 2001 < http://ericnuzum.com/banned/>Glasser "Freedom of Expression in the Arts and Entertainment." ACLU briefing paper. June 2001. September 29 2001/14>