The Smithsonian Institution has been forced to close its 21 museums in Washington, D.C., indefinitely due to a continuing U.S. government shutdown that began on October 1. The National Gallery of Art had already closed the previous weekend. The Smithsonian had initially used its own funds to stay open, first planning to close on October 6 and then extending operations through October 11, but the ongoing shutdown—stemming from disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over health care policy—has now made closure unavoidable. The shutdown also threatens upcoming programming, including a planned Grandma Moses survey at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and a portraiture competition exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which has already been postponed.
This closure matters because it represents the largest-scale museum shutdown of the current crisis, affecting a network that has already been repeatedly targeted by the Trump administration. Earlier this year, President Trump issued an executive order denouncing the Smithsonian for what he called a "divisive, race-centered ideology," and released a list of artworks he condemned, including pieces related to migration and transgender identity. The National Portrait Gallery has been particularly affected: its director, Kim Sajet, resigned after Trump claimed to have fired her, and artist Amy Sherald canceled a planned traveling survey there, alleging censorship over a painting of a Black trans woman. The shutdown compounds these political pressures, raising questions about the future of federal arts funding and institutional independence.