Museum report·Washington
Donors Are Quietly Pulling Artworks From the Kennedy Center as Trump's Takeover Fuels Fears of Disposal
Donors to the Kennedy Center are trying to reclaim their artworks after CNN reported that internal plans contemplated the "disposal" of pieces by sale, transfer or even destruction; the Trump-chaired institution insists the collection's historic core remains intact, but donors say they have received no detail.
Donors who gave artworks to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are quietly trying to get their pieces out of the building, fearing for the collection's future under President Donald Trump's chairmanship. According to CNN reporting from October 19, artists, donors and their families have spent months pressing the center for answers about how hundreds of donated and loaned works will be safeguarded, where they are, and whether they will ever be returned.
The anxiety traces back to internal documents showing officials had devised a plan for permanently removing artworks, with possible "disposal" through return to the country of origin, transfer or exchange with another institution, public sale, or even destruction. Trump, who took over the board, has repeatedly threatened to demolish the performing arts center, ordered the removal of a monumental Joel Shapiro sculpture from the grounds last month, and added a gold-leaf portrait of himself to the building.
Former staff describe a chaotic process. Josef Palermo, the center's former visual arts curator, told CNN that the Africa Lounge, which housed dozens of works donated by African nations including 12-foot double doors carved from a 700-year-old tree in Nigeria, was cleared out in a single day and is now used for storage. One donor told CNN: "I want to get that sculpture out of there."
The fate of one centerpiece underscores the disorder: board members once discussed moving the eight-foot bronze bust of JFK from the Grand Foyer during renovations, only to discover it is bolted into the building's foundation. The Shapiro sculpture, "Blue," was sold to former chairman David Rubenstein for a reported $2 million after its unexplained removal.
Kennedy Center officials insist the plan was never envisioned as a sweeping purge, that the historic core of the collection remains intact, and that all artwork will be fully safeguarded during the renovation. But donors remain unconvinced, arranging ad hoc moves of their pieces to museums and other venues amid fears the collection could become collateral damage in the institution's political upheaval.
