Texas Drops Charges Against Sally Mann and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
124March 27, 2025
Tarrant County, Texas, has dropped its case against renowned photographerSally Mannand theModern Art Museum of Fort Worthafter a grand jury there declined to take action regarding allegations that the institution had engaged in the display of child pornography in presenting images by Mann of unclothed youths.KERA News, a Texas affiliate of NPR, reported that neither police nor the museum have confirmed the fate of the four photographs that were confiscated in January by local authorities who removed them from the group exhibition “Diaries of Home,” in which they were appearing.
Mann had been one of thirteen artists whose work was on view in the now-shuttered documentary exhibition, which featured work by women and nonbinary artists that investigated “the multilayered concepts of family, community, and home,” per the museum, which on itswebsitewarned of “mature themes that may be sensitive for some viewers.” After visitors complained about some of the images, Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare filed a complaint demanding a criminal investigation, and Fort Worth police subsequently confiscated the four photos, one of which depicted an unclothed girl standing atop a picnic table, while another presented a frontal view of a boy’s naked body. The works were typical of the intimate, stylized portraits of Mann’s own children that gained the photographer wide acclaim in the 1980s and ’90s, even while they ignited controversy.
In February, subsequent to O’Hare’s complaint, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the National Coalition Against Censorship jointly wrote the Fort Worth police department calling for an end to the criminal investigation on the grounds that the seizure and retention by authorities of the contested works violated the First Amendment.
“The Modern thanks the Tarrant County Grand Jury’s thorough review in this matter. The Modern is the oldest museum in the State of Texas,” attorney and museum counsel Michael D. Anderson said in a statement published by Artnews. “It proudly serves the Fort Worth community and beyond and will continue to maintain the highest of standards.”