The Nation - News from Oct. 4, 1989

Ten artists who want to display works featuring the U.S. flag are being sued by the city of Chicago, which wants to test a new statute outlawing flag desecration, lawyers said. The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, was moved to the court of U.S. District Judge George M. Marovich after the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the artists, said the case raised questions of constitutionality. The artists’ sculptures, paintings and collages are part of a two-month exhibit probing censorship of the arts. The ordinance passed March 16 was prompted by the controversy that erupted when a student artist placed a flag on the floor in a work that was part of an exhibit at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.