Jules Trobaugh (born John Trobaugh on November 20, 1968) is an American artist specializing in
photography.
While teaching at Sheldon State in Tuscaloosa Alabama, Trobaugh's work was censored before a planned exhibition.
The decision attracted comment and criticism from sources both local
and from further afield,
including a resolution titled "Defend Academic Freedom at Shelton State" from the
University of Alabama Faculty Senate.
The censorship was seen as part of ongoing
culture wars viewing same-sex attraction and gay marriage as issues about love rather than sex.
Education
Trobaugh received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1996 with honors from
University of Alabama at Birmingham and went on to study photography at the
School of Visual Arts. In 2003, she received her Master of Fine Arts from the
University of Alabama. In 2019, she received her Doctorate of Education from
New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...
,
who also awarded her a "Distinguished Problem of Practice in Leadership and Innovation Award" in 2022.
Work
In 2003, Trobaugh became an adjunct professor at
Shelton State Community College.
The college, on the order of its president, removed Trobaugh's "Double Duty" photograph exhibit of
Ken and
G.I. Joe dolls embracing each other from a public gallery.
The figures depicted were "completely clothed, and doing nothing that would earn even the most puritanical parent's disapproval," according to the ''
Washington Post''.
The college said the removal was because the content was controversial and because the exhibition coincided with the College theatre's production of ''
Arsenic and Old Lace'' (which it described as a "family comedy"), and not because of its homosexuality.
Art History Professor
Richard Meyer Richard Meyer may refer to:
* Richard Meyer (composer) (born 1957), American composer, teacher, and strings editor
* Richard Meyer (academic) (born 1966), writer and professor of art history at Stanford University
* Richard Meyer (Fatal Fury), a cha ...
stated that the work "challenges a common concept of masculinity" through a suggestion of homoeroticism and "not because of any graphic depiction of sexuality."
Art critic
Philip Kennicott
Philip Kennicott is the chief Art and Architecture Critic of ''The Washington Post.''
Education
Kennicott was raised in Schenectady, New York, where he studied piano with composer and pianist Joseph Fennimore. In 1983, he attended Deep Spring ...
described the work as being "as far from obscenity as the risque is removed from the romantic," and argued that, in portraying same-sex attraction as being about love rather than sex, Trobaugh's work became part of the neoconservative
culture wars around gay marriage that were controversial at that time.
described the College as having a "
Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in relation to G.I. Joe, also placing Trobaugh's work as a target in ongoing culture wars.
The Faculty Senate at the
University of Alabama defended Trobaugh, voting 23-13 to pass a resolution to "Defend Academic Freedom at Shelton State".
In 2005, Space One Eleven exhibited Trobaugh's work alongside
Karen Graffeo
Karen Graffeo is an American artist based in Birmingham, Alabama. While specializing in photography, Graffeo is also a choreographer and installation artist. Early in her photography career, she worked as Jerry Uelsmann's assistant and model. ...
for ''"In This Place"''. M. K. Matalon organized this exhibition to investigate place and location in relationship to contemporary Southern issues.
Trobaugh's work was selected to be part of ''Patterns of Nature'' in Denver, Colorado.
Trobaugh was included in "Politics, Politics: Nine Artists Explore the Political Landscape" curated by
Anne Arrasmith
Anne Harper Arrasmith (February 20, 1946 – February 1, 2017) was an American artist and curator who lived and worked in Birmingham, Alabama. She co-founded and operated along with Peter Prinz the not-for-profit project ''Space One Eleven.'' Ar ...
and Peter Prinz of Space One Eleven. This exhibition was funded by the
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and included
Pinky Bass
Marion M. Bass, known as Pinky Bass or Pinky/MM Bass, is an American photographer, known for her work in pinhole photography.
Bass, a resident of Fairhope, Alabama, has exhibited at a number of museums including the Asheville Art Museum, Bir ...
,
Clayton Colvin
Clayton Colvin (born 1976) is an American abstract painter, multimedia artist, collagist, and curator of contemporary art who lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama.
Education
Colvin received a BA in Art History from New York University in 1999 a ...
, Peggy Dobbins, Randy Gachet, binx Newton, Arthur Price, Paul Ware, and Stan Woodard.
Trobaugh was a presenter for ''Photography in the Digital Age'' by The Society For Photographic Education South Central Regional Conference, 2003. This meeting took place at the
University of Alabama at Birmingham and
Birmingham Museum of Art in
Birmingham,
Alabama
In 2009, Trobaugh moved to Worcester, Massachusetts with her husband and son. Trobaugh became involved in Worcester civic life first through Worcester Pride, a local LGBTQ+ organization, then by running for school committee. Trobaugh works in the Diversity and Inclusion Office at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Personal life
In March 2023, Trobaugh came out as a transgender woman.
References
External links
National Coalition Against CensorshipWinter 2002–2003 Example of Trobaugh's work
SITOExamples of Trobaugh's work
Richard Meyer,
Art Papers This became a 150-page catalog documenting the exhibition in 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trobaugh, John
1968 births
Living people
American portrait photographers
American transgender artists
Artists from Lansing, Michigan
Censorship in the arts
Photographers from Alabama
Photographers from Michigan
Photography controversies