Conservatives called her artwork ‘Obscene.’ She’s back for more.

Since the passage of what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, more than 40 similar policies have gone into effect in 22 states, according to the free speech group PEN America. The American Library Association reported that efforts to ban books rose 20 percent nationwide this year, the highest level since the organization began collecting data more than two decades ago.

When “Go Figure” was first performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in 1997, it featured a reflecting pond onto which Finley projected the audience’s answers to the question, “What is offensive to you?” Although the pool will not appear when New York gallery Freight+Volume presents the work in Miami, demand remains high. Tom Healy, the former Finley art dealer and trustee of PEN America, said he would have been “shocked” if he had learned 25 years ago that today’s left-wing activists believe free speech must be carefully balanced against concerns about care and safety of students. speakers with provocative ideas are invited to campus. “There is a different sense of decency today in deciding what kind of speech should be free,” Healy said.

And in recent months, a new front in the culture war has also opened up, with campuses holding demonstrations over the Israeli-Hamas war, and some art institutions removing artwork or postponing exhibitions by artists who have been critical of Israel.

The 1998 ruling did not go so far as to limit the National Endowment for the Arts’ ability to fund “indecent” art, noted Amy Adler, a professor specializing in art law at New York University. Ultimately, the language was so vague that it “didn’t mean much.” But the firestorm had an effect nonetheless. In the years after Finley filed her lawsuit, the endowment stopped awarding grants to individual artists in all genres except literature. It shifted more money to state arts agencies, which critics said reduced its influence in Washington, and focused attention on community initiatives rather than avant-garde art.

Before the controversy, “the NEA was actually very progressive and supported all kinds of edgy things,” says David Joselit, professor of art, film and visual studies at Harvard University. Even modest grants “were a credential that made it easier to raise funds.” The agency’s political opponents “managed to kind of put an end to that,” Joselit said, ushering in an era of privatized arts funding.

The case also had major consequences for Finley, who became a somewhat reluctant example of free speech. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art gave away one of her works. A Chicago concert venue canceled its performance because management feared the establishment would lose its liquor license. The Whitney Museum of American Art has canceled a planned show that would have prominently featured “Go Figure” due to budget constraints.