The 1st amendment protects and endows a citizen with free spech and freedom of expression, any act against this right is considered illegal. Funding of an artist's work can be cut however, and this act on itself is not considered illegal. An artist for example may produce erotic artwork that a local legislator may find offensive and as such refuse to provide funding or a platform that would allow the artist to express or show his or her work, which some would consider is a form of censorship.
The works they collected were culturally popular. most of the works they had depicted revolutions and the history of cities, most of which supported new artists.
