In his latest book Not Here, Not Now, Not That! Protest Over Art and Media in America (University of Chicago, 2011) Steven J. Tepper explores the reason why people fight over some works of art but not others.  Not Here, Not Now, Not That! examines a wide range of controversies over films, books, paintings, sculptures, clothing, music, and television in dozens of cities across the country to find out what turns personal offense into public protest.

In the late 1990s Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s epic play about homosexuality and AIDS in the Reagan era, toured the country, inspiring protests in a handful of cities while others received it warmly. Tepper discovers is that these protests are always deeply rooted in local concerns. Furthermore, they are essential to the process of working out our differences in a civil society. To explore the local nature of public protests in detail, Tepper analyzes cases in 71 cities, including an in depth look at what happened in Atlanta in the late 1990s, finding that debates there over memorials, public artworks, books, and parades served as a way for Atlantans to develop a vision of the future at a time of rapid growth and change.
The simplistic narratives that reduce public protests to political maneuvering is not employed in Not Here, Not Now, Not That! thus providing the social context necessary to fully understand this fascinating phenomenon.

Tepper is associate director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy and associate professor in the department of sociology at Vanderbilt.  Prior to Vanderbilt, Tepper served as deputy director of the Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Tepper’s research and teaching focuses on creativity in education and work; conflict over art and culture; and cultural participation
He is a leading writer and speaker on U.S. cultural policy and his work has fostered national discussions around topics of cultural engagement, everyday creativity, and the transformative possibilities of a 21st century creative campus.

Click here to learn more about Steven J. Tepper or the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy.