HARD PASS

Art Exhibit Canceled After Florida College Demands Diversity References be Scrubbed

The move came the same day Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the campus.

An arts nonprofit says it canceled a planned exhibit on a Florida campus after the college demanded it strip out references to diversity and inclusion—on the same day Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke at the school about his desire to eliminate funding for DEI programs. “Promoting those values is literally the goal of our organization,” Embracing Our Differences' executive director, Sarah Wertheimer, told ARTnews of the decision to scrap the show at the Manatee-Sarasota campus of the State College of Florida rather than alter its content. “I asked if this was up for discussion, but they were firm that they wanted these pieces removed,” Wertheimer said. “So we knew we needed to stand strong and not let our artists be censored.”