Cadaver Art Show Opens in Florida Despite Board’s Objection

TAMPA, Fla. — More than 1,000 visitors came Thursday to see human corpses encased in silicone, as state regulators backed down from challenging the controversial art exhibit.

Florida’s Anatomical Board, which oversees the medical and educational use of cadavers, refused Wednesday to approve “Bodies: The Exhibition” at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry. But Thursday, the board said it wouldn’t go to court to stop the show.

Instead, the board’s executive director, Lynn Romrell, issued a statement calling on legislators to “carefully consider the tolerable ranges within our society of the use of human bodies for science, study and exhibition.”

Lawmakers appeared reluctant to enter the fray.

Despite the state board’s concern, visitors -- many of them healthcare professionals -- streamed into the museum.

“The government needs to stop treating citizens like children, because it is just amazing to see the human machine in this way,” said nurse Charles Raska, 36, of Zephyr Hills, Fla.

The exhibit has 20 cadavers and 260 other body parts on display. Most of the male and female corpses are presented in athletic poses.

Nearly all bodies and body parts are stripped of flesh so that internal organs, tissue, muscles, veins and bones are exposed.