FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARTISTS FIGHT BACK AFTER CANCELLATION OF ART EXHIBIT AT UN HEADQUARTERS

Community rallies around women’s rights exhibition; now open in Brooklyn as a symbol of resistance

Exhibition title: “(UN)censored”
630 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NY

Opening hours - RSVP required: artefleur@gmail.com
March 12, 1-3:30pm
March 13, 1-3:30pm
March 19, 1-4pm
March 20, 1-4pm
March 22, 11am-4pm (before the public reception)

CLOSING RECEPTION: March 22, 4-8pm

New York, NY – March 2, 2025 – Just weeks before its scheduled debut at United Nations Headquarters, “Rules, Responsibilities, Restraints: Women’s Pursuit of Equity,” an exhibition about women’s labor and rights—was unexpectedly stripped of its previously secured endorsement from the European Union Delegation. This was not a financial sponsorship, but an official endorsement—a necessary requirement for the exhibition to be shown at UNHQ. Without this backing, the exhibition, which was meant to be displayed in the highly visible UNHQ Visitors’ Lobby, was shut down. “This decision takes away a chance to bring global attention to human rights, artistic expression, and freedom of speech,” says Sawyer Rose, an artist with works in this exhibit.

With their UNHQ exhibition silenced, Rose and Fleur Spolidor, a French artist with paintings in the exhibition, raced to find a new venue in New York City—at the very moment these conversations should have been front and center. Refusing to let their work be censored, the community rallied behind Spolidor and Rose to make sure the exhibition found a platform where it could be seen and heard. In response to the situation, they have rebranded the exhibition as “(UN)censored,” a powerful statement against the suppression of free speech and challenging artistic work.

The exhibition, featuring work by American sculptor Rose (The Carrying Stones Project) and French painter Spolidor (The Swimsuits Series), was set to open alongside the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on women’s rights—a moment meant to celebrate progress toward gender equity. Yet, in a striking contradiction, the EU Delegation pulled its endorsement just two weeks before opening, citing the 'challenging global context.'

"It’s getting harder to have honest conversations about equity and human rights," Rose says. "If even an exhibition about women’s labor and rights is considered too risky, that tells you everything. These are exactly the kinds of discussions we should be putting front and center, not shutting down."

"This is beyond frustrating," Spolidor says. "Nothing about our exhibition has changed since it was first approved. We spent years planning this, got our endorsement, followed every rule—then, at the last minute, it’s pulled. This isn’t just about our work being canceled; it’s about who gets to have a voice in these spaces. If art can’t challenge people, what is it for?”

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The Bigger Picture: Art, Politics, and Free Expression
The artists are also calling on journalists, arts organizations, and advocacy groups to help amplify this story and raise awareness about the growing restrictions on artistic expression in today’s political climate. With the NEA directing more 2025 grant funding toward projects celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary, and recent shifts in the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts’ board under the current administration, the arts are increasingly being shaped by political influence.

These developments highlight a troubling trend: the narrowing of creative spaces where freedom of speech and artistic expression can thrive.

“The cancellation of this exhibition is part of a much larger fight for artistic freedom,” Spolidor says. “When art that challenges the status quo is silenced, it’s not just the artists who lose—it’s all of us.”

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How You Can Help

📰 Press & Media: Journalists interested in covering this story can contact us for interviews, images, and additional details.

📢 Advocacy & Outreach: If you work with a museum, nonprofit, or advocacy group that supports artistic freedom, we’d love to connect.

For all inquiries, contact:
📩 sawyer@sawyerrose.com  |  📞 415-806-2458
🔗 More information: artforwomensequity.com

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About the Team

Fleur Spolidor is a French painter whose work explores themes of women’s rights, its history, and cultural representations. The Swimsuits Series is a visual representation of the surreal challenges that women face in society.

Sawyer Rose is an American sculptor and activist recognized for The Carrying Stones Project, a body of work that blends sculpture with data visualization to highlight the disproportionate labor burdens placed on women.

Karen M. Gutfreund is the Curatorial Producer of “(UN)censored.” An artist and curator with a focus on “Art as Activism.” Gutfreund has created more than forty-five national exhibitions with self-identified women artists, on feminist and social justice themes.