Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Oct 20, 2025 visibility 20 link 3 artists

amy sherald talks canceled smithsonian show 60 minutes 1234757994

Painter Amy Sherald has revealed in a "60 Minutes" interview with Anderson Cooper that she pulled out of her solo exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery because the museum considered removing her painting of a Black transgender Statue of Liberty, titled "Trans Forming Liberty." Sherald stated that the Smithsonian secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch III, proposed replacing the painting with a video discussing trans issues that would include anti-trans views, which she deemed unacceptable censorship. The exhibition, "American Sublime," was originally organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and last shown at the Whitney Museum; it is now expected to open at the Baltimore Museum of Art on November 2.

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article news schedule Sep 4, 2025 visibility 16 link 3 artists

amy sherald american sublime the baltimore museum of art 1234750817

Amy Sherald's exhibition "American Sublime" will now open at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in November, after the artist canceled its planned iteration at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in July over censorship concerns. The show, which features some 50 works and is one of the largest presentations of Sherald's work, was originally organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and is currently on view at the Whitney Museum through August 10. Sherald, who attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and previously served on the BMA's board, called the BMA presentation a homecoming.

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article news schedule Jul 24, 2025 visibility 20 link 4 artists

amy sherald cancels smithsonian exhibition amid censorship concerns 1234748194

Painter Amy Sherald has canceled her upcoming solo exhibition “American Sublime” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery after the museum considered removing her painting *Trans Forming Liberty* (2024), which depicts a Black transgender Statue of Liberty. The show was scheduled to open in September. Sherald stated she was informed of internal concerns about the painting and that discussions arose about replacing it with a video featuring reactions and discussion of trans issues, which she opposed over fears it would include anti-trans views. She wrote to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III that institutional fear shaped by political hostility toward trans lives compromised the integrity of her work.

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museum exhibitions schedule Dec 17, 2025 visibility 11 link 14 artists, 1 gallery

craft state fairs white house saam renwick smithsonian 1234766482

The Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery has opened "State Fairs: Growing American Craft," the first exhibition since the Trump administration's August 2025 audit of all Smithsonian exhibitions, didactics, and collections. The audit, based on an executive order to "restore truth and sanity to American history," condemned discussions of racism, sexism, and oppression as revisionist history. The exhibition features over 250 works from across the United States, spanning the 19th century to the present, arguing that regional state and tribal fairs are essential sites for the development of American craft. It includes spectacular pieces like a 12-foot pair of Lucchese boots, a life-size butter sculpture, and works by artists such as Morgan Hill, Kelly Bohnenkamp, Betty Spindler, Linda Nez, Kaye D. Miller, and Peggie Hartwell.

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museum exhibitions schedule Aug 31, 2025 visibility 28 link 87 artists, 5 galleries

Washington, D.C., Museums are Showcasing African American Art, Exhibitions Focus on Photography and the Black Arts Movement, Vivian Browne, Adam Pendleton & More

Museums across Washington, D.C., are currently presenting a robust slate of exhibitions focused on African American art, including major retrospectives, solo shows, and thematic group presentations. Notable shows include "Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist" at the National Gallery of Art, "We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts by Black Women Artists" at the Renwick Gallery, solo exhibitions for Vivian Browne and Essex Hemphill at The Phillips Collection, Chakaia Booker's "In the Tower" at the National Gallery, and Adam Pendleton's "Love, Queen" at the Hirshhorn Museum. Additionally, collectors Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson have pledged 175 works by Black artists to the National Gallery, with over 60 on view in "With Passion and Purpose."

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article policy schedule Jan 12, 2026 visibility 13 link 3 artists

smithsonian drops wall text mentioning trumps double impeachment 1234769438

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has removed wall text referencing President Trump’s two impeachments from its “America’s Presidents” exhibition after installing a new black-and-white portrait of him by White House photographer Daniel Torok. The original label noted Trump’s impeachments for abuse of power and inciting insurrection, but the revised text now identifies him only as the 45th and 47th president and his birth year. The change follows years of contention from the Trump administration, which compiled a list of complaints accusing former director Kim Sajet of political bias; Sajet resigned, and Elliot Gruber now serves as acting director.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jun 4, 2025 visibility 10 link 5 artists, 1 gallery

Professors share art, science, culture via Smithsonian exhibits

Two East Carolina University professors have contributed to Smithsonian museum exhibits this summer. Photography professor Daniel Kariko from the School of Art and Design has a photograph titled "Last Camp on Isle Dernieres" (2017) on display in the Art x Climate exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The image documents a recreational fishing camp in South Louisiana that was completely gone by 2019, part of Kariko's ongoing 25-year project "Impermanence" capturing landscape changes in the Barataria-Terrebonne region. Additionally, Dr. Aleia Brown from the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences curated a collection of quilts by Black artists at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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article policy schedule Apr 21, 2025 visibility 10 link 1 artist

house democrats urge jd vance to stop smithsonian 1234739198

Four Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives—Joseph Morelle, Terri Sewell, Norma Torres, and Julie Johnson—sent a letter to Vice President J.D. Vance on Thursday urging him to reject an overhaul of the Smithsonian Institution. The letter responds to President Donald Trump's March 27 executive order, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which aims to eliminate "divisive" and "anti-American" content from Smithsonian exhibitions and restore removed monuments. The lawmakers argue that the order threatens the curatorial independence that has made the Smithsonian a globally respected cultural institution.

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