Sara Nadal-Melsió, the former associate director of the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program (ISP), has spoken out about her termination in June 2025, which occurred shortly after the museum's director Scott Rothkopf announced a suspension of the 50-year-old program. In an essay published in Hyperallergic, Nadal-Melsió describes her dismissal as retaliation for her public protest against the Whitney's cancellation of a pro-Palestinian performance titled "No Aesthetic Outside My Freedom: Mourning, Militancy, and Performance." She characterizes the museum's actions as part of a broader pattern of institutional obfuscation, corporate culture, and disregard for workers' rights.
This controversy matters because it highlights ongoing tensions within major U.S. art institutions over free expression, political speech, and Palestine solidarity. The suspension of the Whitney's prestigious ISP—a program that has nurtured generations of artists and curators—signals a significant shift in institutional priorities and raises questions about censorship, academic freedom, and the role of museums in addressing geopolitical conflicts. The article also touches on the booming market for dinosaur fossils, with a recent $30.5 million sale at Sotheby's, and announces that the next Manifesta biennial will take place in Coimbra, Portugal in 2028.