JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Protesters packed the steps to City Hall Wednesday night with a message for the president of the city council: They're not happy that he referred to a piece of art in the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville as pornographic.
The image is a nude picture of a pregnant woman on display in the museum's atrium.
City Council President Clay Yarborough caused a stir last week when he referred to it as pornographic, outraging many art lovers in the city.
Yarborough's initial push to defund MOCA's $230,000 grant from the Cultural Council unless the photograph was taken down has caused a backlash from people who feel he went too far -- and they're defending what they see as art in Jacksonville.
Protesters held signs of all types with various messages for Yarborough, saying he went too far not only in referring to the photo as pornographic, but in threatening MOCA's funding.
Keri Kidder, who organized Wednesday's protest, said Yarborough has a right to his opinion.
"We all know that's not pornography, but he's allowed to say it," Kidder said. "But he's not allowed to pull funding from MOCA from the public."
"A lot of people are in agreement here that it's a little bit over the top, it's a little bit excessive, considering the actual artwork in question. To even perceive that to be sexual in any way is, in my opinion, ridiculous," said Mario Peralta, who was protesting the councilman's comment. "But in general, in the arts community, going through the First Amendment, we have a right to express whatever concepts we want to as artists."
Despite Yarborough's demands, Mayor Alvin Brown's office decided not to tamper with MOCA's funding, saying it would be a violation of the First Amendment. However, there are some who said they understand Yarborough's position, particularly the idea that the photo is on display where children can see it.
Kathy Morgan said she wouldn't want her child seeing it.
"You know the 'pornographic' word seems to be nasty, but it's nice art, but I wouldn't want my son to see somebody laid wide open like that if he was young," Morgan said. "I wouldn't want my kid to."
Despite the support Yarborough is receiving from some parents, he has now gathered a lot of very vocal critics as he tries to preside over the City Council.
"There are some people in politics here who are a little closed-minded, judgmental, so yeah, I'm not surprised," Kerry Speckman said.
Yarborough told News4Jax he has "no comment right now, but I'll issue a statement in the next several days."
Yarborough said he reached out on Monday to the owners of the museum and got a response Wednesday. The two sides plan to meet, but no date has been set yet.