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EXCLUSIVE: Artist Amy Sherald canceled her upcoming exhibit featuring a portrait of a transgender Statue of Liberty at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery after Vice President JD Vance raised concerns the show included woke and divisive content, Fox News Digital has learned.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March that placed Vance in charge of overseeing the removal of programs or exhibits at Smithsonian museums that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy.”
Vance said Sherald’s “American Sublime” exhibit violated Trump’s executive order and was an example of woke and divisive content during a meeting June 9 with the Board of Regents, a source familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital.
Arewà Basit stands in front of Amy Sherald’s painting, “Trans Forming Liberty” on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan, N.Y., April 2, 2025. (Tiffany Sage/BFA/Shutterstock)
“Vice President Vance has been leading the effort to eliminate woke indoctrination from our beloved Smithsonian museums,” an administration official said in an email to Fox News Digital. “On top of shepherding the One Big Beautiful Bill through the Senate and helping President Trump navigate international crises, the vice president has demonstrated his ability to get President Trump’s priorities across the finish line.”
Sherald, best known for painting former first lady Michelle Obama’s official portrait in 2018, announced Thursday she was pulling her show, “American Sublime,” from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery slated for September, The New York Times first reported.
Sherald said she was rescinding her work from the exhibition after being told that the National Portrait Gallery had some concerns about featuring the portrait of the transgender Statue of Liberty during the show. The painting, “Trans Forming Liberty,” depicts a trans woman with pink hair wearing a blue gown.
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Amy Sherald attends the 2023 Tribeca Ball at the New York Academy of Art April 4, 2023, in New York City. (Santiago Felipe/Contributor)
“These concerns led to discussions about removing the work from the exhibition,” Sherald said in a statement, The New York Times first reported Thursday. “While no single person is to blame, it’s clear that institutional fear shaped by a broader climate of political hostility toward trans lives played a role.
“This painting exists to hold space for someone whose humanity has been politicized and disregarded. I cannot in good conscience comply with a culture of censorship, especially when it targets vulnerable communities.
“At a time when transgender people are being legislated against, silenced and endangered across our nation, silence is not an option,” Sherald added. “I stand by my work. I stand by my sitters. I stand by the truth that all people deserve to be seen — not only in life, but in art.”
The Smithsonian did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Vance’s involvement in the matter.
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President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance after a ceremony with the 2025 national champion Ohio State Buckeyes on the South Lawn of the White House April 14, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The White House said the removal of Sherald’s exhibit is a “principled and necessary step” toward cultivating unity at institutions like the Smithsonian.
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“The ‘Trans Forming Liberty’ painting, which sought to reinterpret one of our nation’s most sacred symbols through a divisive and ideological lens, fundamentally strayed from the mission and spirit of our national museums,” Trump special assistant Lindsey Halligan said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“The Statue of Liberty is not an abstract canvas for political expression. It is a revered and solemn symbol of freedom, inspiration and national unity that defines the American spirit.”
Other members of the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents include the Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts, along with senators John Boozman, R-Ark.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; and Gary Peters, D-Mich., along with several other House members.
Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.