Bud Werner Library presents a stream of “Taking Venice,” the true story behind rumors that the U.S. government and a team of high-placed insiders rigged the 1964 Venice Biennale (aka the Olympics of Art), available to watch at home for free with your library card, now through Jan. 8 at steamboatlibrary.org/events/takingvenice.

At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government was determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, the world’s most influential art exhibition, became  a proving ground in 1964. Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommends Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator making waves with trailblazing art, to organize the U.S. entry.

Together with Leo Castelli, a powerful New York art dealer, they embark on a daring plan to make Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the grand prize. The artist is yet to be taken seriously with his combinations of junk off the street and images from pop culture, but he has the potential to dazzle.

Deftly pulling off maneuvers that could have come from a Hollywood thriller, the American team leaves the international press crying foul and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there.