An exhibition that was canceled, due to the Trump administration’s renouncement of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, has opened at Gillespie Gallery at George Mason University School of Art in Fairfax, Virginia.
The exhibition, titled “Before the Americas”, is an art historical survey tracing the work of Afro-Latino, Caribbean, and African American artists who have lived and worked in the Greater Washington area through the four themes of genetic memory, migration, invisibility, and interconnectivity. The show confronts racial and colonial constructs through the work of 39 artists from 17 countries, among them, Amy Sherald, Renee Stout, Alma Thomas, Elizabeth Catlett, and Alonzo Davis. The included pieces span multiple mediums such as painting, printmaking, sculpture, book art, performance, and video.
“Before the Americas” was initially expected to open at the Art Museum of the Americas, a sector of the Organization of American States, in Washington, D.C., on March 21. When the show was dubbed a “DEI program and event” by the Trump administration, however, funding that was previously secured under the Biden administration was cut and the exhibition was ultimately canceled. (It was not the only exhibition at the institution to be cut, with an LGBTQ+ show also getting the axe.)
To make this iteration at George Mason possible, the show’s curator Cheryl Edwards told Hyperallergic, “about 50 or 60 donors” stepped up to fund it. “It really brought us closer together as an art community,” she continued, “and it shows that we really understand the importance of having art and culture in our society, and that art transcends politics and orders.”
As for the content of the show, Edwards added, “The history of African-descendant artists does not begin with slavery,” and presenting an understanding of that history is “the whole point of this show.”
“Before the Americas” will be on view at Gillespie Gallery through November 15. It is scheduled to travel to the University of Maryland Global Campus, where it will remain on view from February through May.
In January, President Trump signed an executive order banning DEI initiatives, which lead to the end of such programs at other Washington–based museums like the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art. Others, like artist Amy Sherald, elected to cancel her show at the Smithsonian due to censorship concerns, while the White House continues to have a heavy hand in arts programming, including having reviewed the Smithsonian and targeted specific works on view at the museum.
Additionally, the Trump administration has gutted the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), most recently firing the majority of the National Council on the Humanities advising the NEH and NEA grants, to make way for the National Garden of Heroes.
