The Fort Worth Police Department spent nearly $7,000 to send five officers to four New York art institutions as part of a now-closed investigation into child pornography allegations at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, according to records obtained by the Fort Worth Report.
The four-day trip to New York City, which took place in February, was necessary to gather information on Virginia-born photographer Sally Mann’s artwork and follow up on “critical leads,” police spokesperson Chelsea Kretz said via email.
Fort Worth police recently returned Mann’s photographs to the museum after seizing them in January as part of an investigation alleging that the Modern was displaying child pornography as part of its “Diaries of Home” exhibition. Several of Mann’s images featured at the museum showed her then-young children in the nude.
The images removed from the exhibit by police included a photo centered on Mann’s naked daughter jumping onto a picnic table and a portrait of her son with popsicle drips running down his torso, legs and genitals.
Republican lawmakers called for an investigation into the exhibit in late December. In March, Fort Worth police submitted two reports to Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells to determine if there was sufficient evidence to press charges. The case was dropped later that month after a Tarrant County grand jury declined to take action against the Modern.
A spokesperson for the Modern, which closed the exhibition in February, confirmed April 25 that Mann’s artwork has been returned and shipped back to its owner. Museum officials declined to comment on the police department’s investigation trip to New York City.
The “Diaries of Home” exhibition, which was on view at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth until Feb. 2, 2025, warned viewers about “mature themes that may be sensitive to some viewers.” (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report) During their investigation, Fort Worth police officers visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art. All four New York institutions own several of Mann’s photographs in their collections.
“The fact-finding mission was planned efficiently to allow investigators the ability to divide and conquer a large footprint of museums and see the artwork on display in real time,” Kretz said. “The decision to send personnel was based on the importance of our commitment to ensuring a comprehensive investigation.”
Upon arriving at the New York City institutions, Kretz said Fort Worth police discovered the museums had either closed or restricted the Mann exhibits to the public, even though attendance confirmation was received before their departure.
Investigators spoke with as many museum employees and curators as possible during the trip, with the goal of understanding the curation and exhibition process, and how Mann’s images are selected and displayed, Kretz added.
A Fort Worth Report review of the museums’ websites on April 25 shows that none of the four New York museums have Mann’s works currently on view — and haven’t for several years. The MET and Guggenheim each own nine Sally Mann artworks in their collections, the MOMA owns one work, and the Whitney Museum owns 12 works.
A MOMA spokesperson said the museum could not find records of communications with Fort Worth police over the past four months. Spokespersons from the other three New York institutions did not respond by publication time.
Police vans and cruisers were stationed inside of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden on July 13, 2024. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report) Trip expenses included $2,506.92 for the officers’ lodging, $1,694.85 for airfare, $47 for parking at DFW Airport, $670 for museum entry fees, and $2,070 per diem, for a grand total of $6,988.77, according to an itemized list of expenses obtained by the Report through a public information request.
“We understand the public’s interest in the use of departmental resources. Trip expenses were covered following our policy protocols,” Kretz said.
The Report contacted all Fort Worth City Council members for their response to the trip and its role in the investigation. Mayor Mattie Parker and council members Elizabeth Beck and Chris Nettles declined to comment, and Jeanette Martinez said she needed to get more information before commenting. The other seven council members did not return requests for comment. A spokesperson for City Manager Jay Chapa declined to comment, deferring to the police department’s statement.
A spokesperson for Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, who publicly criticized Mann’s work at the Modern and called for police to investigate, said his office was not aware of the police department’s trip to New York, but he is supportive of the efforts.
“We fully support their efforts to investigate the criminality of grossly inappropriate displays like this. We must protect our children,” the spokesperson said via email.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare listens to public comments during a county commissioners meeting April 2, 2025. (Billy Banks | Fort Worth Report) The case has drawn scrutiny from national civil liberties groups. In February, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the National Coalition Against Censorship demanded that Fort Worth police close their investigation and return the images, citing First Amendment protections.
Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the trip to New York was unnecessary as police did not need to visit museums to know that the images were constitutionally protected as artistic expression. Mann’s artwork has been renowned across the country for decades, Terr added.
“It was not necessary for the police to go to New York for this investigation because the investigation was a sham,” Terr said. “It was a waste of time for the police to even go to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to seize the photos, let alone all the way to New York.”
Chloe Kempf, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas, criticized the trip and its expense, writing via email that Texans have a constitutional right to make and view art.
“Our leaders should focus on real problems affecting Texans instead of spending taxpayer money funding field trips across the country in the name of censorship,” Kempf said. “The government’s shameful and failed attempt to persecute Sally Mann’s photography not only intimidated Texas’ art community and threatened all our First Amendment rights, but it also appears to have wasted costly time and resources.”
Since late January, the Report has sought to obtain city documents related to the police investigation. The department has repeatedly cited its right to withhold records related to alleged or suspected child abuse or neglect under Texas family code.
The Report has requested an opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on the city’s withholding of its police report, but has yet to hear back.
Following the closure of the investigation, the Report submitted a new request April 10 asking for the release of the documents. The city responded April 24, stating it will once again seek to withhold the records and ask for an opinion from the attorney general.
Assistant City Attorney Amarna Muhammad wrote that the records are confidential because they are related to alleged, suspected abuse or neglect of a child; they disclose undercover officers’ names and identification numbers; and they fall under common law privacy laws, which protect information that contains highly intimate or embarrassing facts that would be “highly objectionable to a reasonable person” or aren’t of legitimate concern to the public.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
