Posted on: Thursday, March 7, 2002

Art will be shown after suit settled

Advertiser Staff

The city will allow a painting that was banned last year to appear in an exhibit later this month at Honolulu Hale, following a settlement of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i.

Artist Daria Fand's painting "Last of the Believers" depicts a nude woman on a cross. In its lawsuit, the ACLU charged that the city refused to show the piece last March because it was deemed "offensive."

ACLU's state legal director Brent White said the settlement "vindicates the principle that refusing to display controversial art on public property constituted improper censorship by the city and violated our client's First Amendment rights."

City officials said that they felt the piece was too large and that it didn't meet the deadline.