There were signs. There were chants. There were breasts (albeit of the paper-bowl variety).

Coinciding with Art Walk, a couple of hundred people took part in a rally and protest Wednesday evening on the steps of City Hall.

They were there in support of the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville and against City Council President Clay Yarborough’s stance on a visible photograph showing a nude pregnant woman and his desire to pull more than $233,000 from the museum because of it.

The signs had messages of support: “Teach our children that nudity is beautiful.” “When did maternity turn into pornography?” and “Breasts are not porn.” Some were jokes against the councilman.

But the most common sign and chant throughout the early evening affair?

“I stand with MOCA.” It’s a slogan that’s been trending on social media by arts supporters since last week when the issue began.

Marcelle Polednik, the museum’s director, was one of a couple of speakers to address the supporters. She thanked them for the support of the arts and talked about how this issue has ended up being a positive reinforcement for the arts community in Jacksonville.

Yarborough asked Mayor Alvin Brown to pull the museum’s funding from the city because of the “pornographic” display, but the mayor on Monday said he wouldn’t because of possible First Amendment issues. Later, he said he didn’t find the photograph pornographic.

Polednik afterward said there has been email communication with Yarborough about meeting. But, despite the mayor’s stance,

something is still missing. “We haven’t had closure,” she said.

She doesn’t want an apology — only closure on the subject and the assurance Yarborough won’t seek to continue to try and pull funding.

At one point, the crowd wanted more, chanting “Double it, Double it.”

The controversy hasn’t exactly been bad for business, either — just the opposite.

Polednik said attendance in the past week or so has been up to five times greater than the same time last year. And, 20 new museum memberships have been added.

Wednesday night wasn’t about business, though. It was about artistic expression and the politics behind the controversy.

About 6:15 p.m. — 45 minutes or so after the rally began in earnest — protesters carried their signs, their fake breasts and their spirits and started a makeshift parade toward the museum and then off into the night.

Their main call? The same. “I stand with MOCA.”

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