Susan Washington

There’s a version of the arts the administration wants you to see, gleaming, tidy, and politically convenient, where exhibitions don’t irritate, history is retold without its uncomfortable chapters, and public institutions become storyboards for power instead of mirrors for inquiry. It is the opposite of what art has been for centuries. Across time and cultures, the artist’s role has been to question, to provoke, to document the truth as they see it, not to edit that truth to suit those in power.

Take the Smithsonian. In March 2025, the administration issued an executive order named Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, directing federally funded history sites to remove **“improper ideology”** and emphasize a unifying, patriotic narrative. In August, eight Smithsonian museums, including the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, were ordered to submit documentation within 30 days and implement changes within 120 days. Around the same time, the Smithsonian removed a 2021 label in a presidential history exhibit that referenced Trump’s two impeachments, reverting to an older version stating “only three presidents have seriously faced removal” with no direct mention of Trump. After public criticism, the Smithsonian reinstated the reference, but in a shorter, more neutral form, softening the language and even adding “alleged” to describe the events.

Then there's the Kennedy Center. In February 2025, Trump removed most of the board, named himself chairman, and appointed Richard Grenell as interim executive director. Since then, programming decisions have increasingly aligned with his agenda, and he has floated renaming parts of the institution: House Republicans proposed naming the Opera House after Melania Trump, and another effort would rename the entire center for himself.


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And at the National Portrait Gallery, Amy Sherald, best known for her portrait of Michelle Obama, canceled her planned exhibition American Sublime after being informed the museum was considering removing her painting Trans Forming Liberty, which depicts a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty, to avoid provoking political backlash under this administration. Sherald refused to compromise her work’s integrity, and the show was ultimately canceled.


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I’ve worked in places where this sort of interference was constant, and it changes everything. Artists start questioning their own ideas before the paint hits the canvas. The boldest work gets bottled up, tucked away, or never leaves the studio. Audiences, the ones who should be challenged, unsettled, moved, end up facing a version of culture that’s been sanded down to pass a political loyalty check.

When I pitched a politically charged show to a Baltimore gallery, the gallery didn’t flinch and were so encouraging. They understood that art isn’t meant to be safe, it’s meant to provoke, stir thought, maybe even make you uncomfortable. If that show had needed a political litmus test, it wouldn’t be happening. And that’s exactly the point: art that passes too easily through power’s filter isn’t art at all.

This isn’t just about editing one exhibit or canceling one show. It’s about narrowing the entire field. Every political intrusion into programming chisels away at the spaces where artists can speak freely. And once that space is gone, rebuilding it is nearly impossible.

If you say you care about the arts, you need to see what’s unfolding - not as minor adjustments or rebranding but as a shrinking of our cultural lens. Support the venues still willing to take risks. Buy from artists who won’t dilute their truth. Show up for performances, readings, and exhibitions that power would rather you not see.

Because if we let politics define what art can be, we’ll get exactly the art power wants, and nothing more. And that’s not a future worth any wall.


Press

What Happens When Politics Decides What Art Can Say

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