A work of Conner's titled "Child"—a small human figure sculpted in black wax, mouth agape as if in pain and partially wrapped in nylon stockings, seated in—and partly tied by the stockings to—a small, old wooden child's high chair—literally made headlines when displayed at San Francisco's De Young Museum in December 1959 and January 1960. A meditation or perhaps comment on the then pending Caryl Chessman execution, the work horrified many. "It's Not Murder, It's Art," the "San Francisco Chronicle" headlined; its competitor the "News-Call Bulletin" headlined its article, "The Unliked 'Child'". The sculpture was acquired by the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1970, but greatly deteriorated in subsequent years, such that the museum kept it in storage for long periods and Conner at times asked that it not be shown or suggested it no longer existed. In 2015-2016, another attempt to restore the work was undertaken, involving months-long efforts by two conservators. The work was successfully restored and displayed in "It's All True", a retrospective exhibition which opened at Museum of Modern Art in July 2016.