The Smithsonian Institution, a Washington, D.C.–based network for museums that has repeatedly been attacked by the Trump administration, suffered yet one more blow this weekend as a continuing government shutdown forced it close for the foreseeable future.
It is not the first museum in Washington, D.C. to shutter because of the shutdown: the National Gallery of Art has been closed since last weekend. But the Smithsonian, whose 21 institutions include the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery, is the largest-scale closure of its kind thus far.
Previously, the Smithsonian, which receives most of its funding from the US government, had used its own money to stay open. It initially planned to close on October 6, then extended its opening through October 11.
During the last government shutdown, which took place between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, Smithsonian workers were left without pay. It wasn’t immediately clear what would happen this time around, though President Trump has suggested that federal workers who are furloughed would not automatically receive back pay. On Friday, the White House announced that it had begun another round of layoffs amid the shutdown.
The current government shutdown began on October 1 and is now in its second week. It derives from disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over health care policy. Before the shutdown set in, Democrats sought to undo health care cuts made by Republicans, while Republicans called on Democrats to accept their funding plan.
How the Smithsonian’s forthcoming programming will be impacted remains uncertain. Later this month, the Smithsonian American Art Museum is planning to open a Grandma Moses survey. The National Portrait Gallery already postponed an exhibition related to a recurring portraiture competition that was expected to open on October 18.
The Smithsonian has repeatedly found itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration this year. In March, Trump issued an executive order denouncing the Smithsonian in which he claimed that it had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.” He has since released a list of artworks on view at its museums that he appeared to condemn; some of them were related to migration and transgender identity.
The National Portrait Gallery has in particular been reshaped by the controversy. Its director, Kim Sajet, resigned after Trump claimed to have fired her. Also at that museum, artist Amy Sherald canceled a planned iteration of her traveling survey, claiming the institution censored her by asking her to remove a painting of a Black trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty.
