Staff Reports
The State Department has quietly taken down a large Kehinde Wiley painting from the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo and is now asking whether it can legally sell the work. What started as a routine piece of embassy decor has turned into a culture-war talent show, with America First officials calling the painting “very woke” and moving quickly to strip it from public view.
Removal and reactions at the embassy
U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Leah Campos posted video of crews removing the painting and replacing it with a patriotic image. The State Department’s Art in Embassies director, Erin Scavino, told reporters the piece was “very woke” and “aesthetically terrifying.” That short, public drama does more than shuffle pictures on a wall — it signals a deliberate shift in how the America First State Department wants U.S. embassies to look and what they are willing to tolerate.
The next step: can the government sell it?
Officials say they are consulting lawyers to see if the painting — titled Young Artists After Siamesas 1960 and commissioned under an earlier administration — can be deaccessioned and sold. Deaccession rules for federal collections are not simple. Removing something from display is one thing; turning taxpayer-paid art into cash is another. Sources note that selling a federally commissioned work would be unusual and will require legal review and paperwork if it happens.
Art, politics, and public money
This is not just about a single canvas. The State Department has pointed to past controversial remarks by the artist and to allegations he has denied, while critics argue the move is political theater. Meanwhile, taxpayers paid for the work through the Art in Embassies program. If officials are going to use politics to decide which art belongs in U.S. diplomatic spaces, they should at least be honest about the budgetary and legal limits before making a show of “patriotism.”
Watch for two things next: the State Department’s formal legal finding on whether the painting can be sold, and any response from the artist or museum world. Either outcome will tell us more about how far this administration will go to unmake cultural choices made under prior presidents — and whether federal art programs are now fair game in a political purge. No one asked the taxpayers if they wanted this culture-cleanse auctioned off, but they’ll be paying attention anyway.
