The exhibition includes a depiction of Mary along with shellacked clumps of elephant dung and two dozen cutouts of buttocks from pornographic magazines. There are actually two separate issues at play here. One, is whether such art, offensive or not, must be paid for with tax dollars. The Issue of Tax Funding The right to produce such art is not in question here. Artists have the right to create anti-Catholic art.
Artists have the right to display anti-Catholic art.
Artists can take a statue of the Virgin Mary and soak it in dung and call it art if they choose. The question is whether the Constitution mandates that art of any form be paid for with tax dollars. Siegel states that denying such funding violates the First Amendment, and thus, is unconstitutional. Refusing to extend such funds to this exhibit, or any art exhibit for that matter is certainly not unconstitutional. Nowhere does it say that taxpayers must fund art exhibits.