We will insist that it conduct its affairs in public and will monitor it very closely. Lieberman further stated, The Mayor's argument that taxpayer money should not support offensive art rests on a belief that, by funding art museums, the City converts the artists and curators into government spokespersons who can be told what artistic expression they may and may not convey. But, this conception fails to recognize that there are a variety of publicly-funded institutions that are specifically devoted to discourse and expression where it is well recognized that the ideas conveyed within those institutions are not those of the government, even if a state or municipality pays the bills.
Public universities are a classic example of such institutions.
Libraries and art museums are similar, in this respect. In supporting these institutions we well understand that ideas will sometimes be conveyed that are provocative and controversial. But it is also understood that the scholars and writers and artists that convey ideas at these institutions must be free to speak for themselves. They are not government spokespersons, nor should they be. Eisenberg continued, The Mayor s defense that the Commission is merely advisory is similarly unpersuasive.