Mentioned in this issue: Donald Trump, Lonnie Bunch, Alma Allen, Tilman Fertitta, Yoshitomo Nara, Loïc Gouzer, Vija Celmins, Matthew Marks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Eva Chow, Denis Villeneuve, Gary Hume, Jacqueline Tran, Michael Govan, Katherine Ross, James Turrell, Riko Mizuno, Matthew Barney, Roni Horn, Meshell Ndegeocello, Steve McQueen, Matthieu Blazy, Rosemarie Trockel, Carrie Mae Weems, Marina Abramović, Wade Guyton, Christopher Wool, Rashid Johnson, Felix Rödder, Calvin Marcus, James Ensor.
What I’m Seeing
How the Newly Elected Congress Can Save the Smithsonian
Trump has spent the last two years attacking Washington’s cultural hub with executive orders and legally dubious firings issued via fiat. But the Smithsonian gets its funding through Congress—what if Congress actually acted on that authority?
Sure, Congress has more pressing issues to address once the deeply blue House and Senate get sworn in early next year. But here at True Colors I think it’s fair to ask the question: Will lawmakers wind back the years of impact the Trump administration has had on the Smithsonian Institution?
Although Congress has authority over the cultural behemoth, the White House has in just the last two years issued executive orders, been extremely hands-on in its public signage, and mounted pressure campaigns to fire directors and censor artworks. Congress could have stopped all of this, but didn’t. Republicans naturally didn’t want to cross Trump and support the beleaguered arts mecca. But Democrats have every reason to—after the new Congress is sworn in they’ll have the power to appropriate massive amounts of funding to each Smithsonian museum—or even create new museums. Plus, that can impact how the whole institution is run on a day-to-day basis, as Congress has the power to shake up the Smithsonian’s board of regents. That governing body will choose the next Smithsonian secretary, after Lonnie Bunch resigned earlier this year.
I’m particularly interested in who takes over as the director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Melissa Chiu, who held the position for 12 years, stepped down earlier this year to be the director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and rumors are swirling about who will succeed her in the post. The prospect of a culture-living Congress—and, who knows…a Democratic president come 2029?—could make the Smithsonian seem like a swell place to be long term.
Add in the prospect of a new crop of congressional staffers and the attendant cottage industries of consultants and lobbyists all flocking to Washington, and I could see the Hirshhorn getting caught up in the vibe shift, pronto. There’s expected to be a sea change of DC residents in town, and there’s every reason to believe they’ll make the (free! always free!) contemporary art museum a constant stop on the rotation. Plus, the long-gestating renovation of the Sculpture Garden literally just opened this past weekend. I don’t have any inside intel on who’s in the running for the job —but it’s looking like a pretty great gig these days.
Meanwhile, the artworks that filled the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, made by State Department–tapped artist Alma Allen, might be stuck in Italy for the foreseeable future. Funding has run out, and there’s nothing in the budget for moving the works. I wonder how that can be resolved. Seems like a job for an art-loving, restaurant-owning Italian ambassador, Tilman Fertitta!
