Event

For the third-year in a row, BFA Visual and Critical Studies presents an art book sale to support PEN America in its fight against book bans. The book sale allows students to start or add to their personal libraries with books (many brand new) donated by publishers, artists, and fellow faculty members of SVA. The sale is another reminder of the dangers we are currently facing and the need to protect the freedoms that educational institutions hold dear. 

The books sale will take place in the BFA Visual and Critical Studies/Honors Library on the 4th floor of 133/141 West 21st Street. All books are $1.

Click here for link to the PEN America Index of Book Bans in 2025. George Orwell’s 1984 remains the #1 banned book of all time. In 1928, the Wizard of Oz was banned in Chicago libraries for depicting women in leadership roles. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale has been banned 67 times. 

Hands Off My Books! runs in conjunction with the BFA Visual and Critical Studios open studios event, “VCSOS,” and the BFA Visual and Critical Studies senior exhibition, “On paper.”

Hands Off My Books! is organized and run by BFA Visual and Critical Studies faculty member Peter Hristoff (BFA 1981 Fine Arts).