As US President Donald Trump's administration continues its drastic downsizing of the federal workforce, the future of more than 26,000 government-owned art objects hangs in the balance.
According to reporting by The Washington Post, this vast collection of public art pieces, some of which date to the 1850s, has been left un-stewarded after “at least” five regional offices of the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government’s operational agency, were shuttered earlier this month. Half of the nearly 40 employees in the GSA division devoted to artistic and historic preservation have been dismissed from their positions, pending termination, as a direct result of President Trump’s executive orders imposing hiring freezes and staffing reductions throughout the federal government.
In a statement to the Post, a GSA spokesperson said that the agency is “making decisions to optimise the workforce for our future mission, and remains committed to supporting impacted employees as they transition from federal service”. Former GSA workers expressed concerns that art housed on federal properties all over the country would come under threat. Such works include Alexander Calder’s 1974 Flamingo at the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago and Michael Lantz’s Man Controlling Trade (1942) near the Federal Trade Commission building in Washington, DC.
One anonymous worker, who described the sudden layoffs to the Post as “the rug being pulled out”, cited a specific work that has been left in administrative limbo. The 1941 Gifford Beal painting Tropical Country is temporarily absent from its post in the Interior Department building so that it may undergo conservation work. Now, with the GSA in limbo, the conservator is unsure of who he should contact about payment or the physical future of the object.
“There’s been no planning or accounting or consideration for that,” the staffer told the Post. “It’s supremely shortsighted.” Ongoing contracts with artists whose commissions have not yet been fulfilled are also vulnerable, as are the census-taking and repair routines that keep existing federal art accounted for and in top shape.
Since 1974, the GSA has commissioned more than 500 works by artists such as Maya Lin, Martin Puryear, Louise Nevelson and Ellsworth Kelly for federal offices and public spaces across the country. Many of the pieces, some of which are physically connected to government buildings, require regular oversight and care from small teams of staff in each of their 11 federally-inscribed regions. Where this oversight might come from in lieu of a centralised office remains to be seen, but the agency has suggested a process of transferring partial or full ownership of works to buildings’ new owners. Removal of works from the GSA’s collection is also an option.
On 4 March, the GSA published a list of 443 “non-core” buildings that the agency intended to put up for sale, about 50% percent of its federal real estate holdings. The list was soon deleted, although spokesperson for the GSA said it planned to republish the list soon, adding that the agency is "exploring innovative approaches—including public-private partnerships, ground leases, sale leasebacks and interagency co-working agreements—to optimise our real property portfolio in support of the administration’s [executive order]. These actions will result in increased service quality to our customers and savings to the American taxpayer."
Former GSA staffers allege that the agency is seeking to end its lease on a storage facility in northern Virginia, a location that houses hundreds of paintings and sculptures. Of greatest import and urgency are the pieces sponsored by the Works Progress Administration, a Depression-era New Deal programme that employed artisans to create public works through federal commissions.
The day after GSA staffers were placed on indefinite leave, Jennifer Gibson, the director of the agency's Center for Fine Arts and the Art in Architecture Program, urged the GSA workers who remained to upload their preservation histories into a shared folder. In an email obtained by the Post, Gibson wrote that “this needs to be a priority”, addressing the correspondence to “everyone left”.
The Art in Architecture programme has operated as a commissioning body for the federal government since 1975, devoting .5% of federal construction costs to art comissions. On 29 January, President Trump signed an executive order that rehabilitated a directive for a National Garden of Heroes, a monumental park to feature 250 statues of historical figures that was shelved during his first administration. His directives have sought to dictate the content of the commissions, including an extensive list of "heroes" to be commemorated, bypassing the Art in Architecture programme and implying a shifting future for public art on US federal properties.
The Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a watchdog organisation advocating for artistic freedom, released a statement on 7 March decrying the “purge of the federal workforce” under the Trump administration. “These historic artworks are part of America’s cultural heritage and patrimony, and they must be preserved and maintained,” Julie Trébault, ARC's executive director, stated. “The federal government’s sudden move to sell and terminate leases on buildings housing these artworks raises serious concerns about their fate, especially those permanently integrated into architectural structures as frescos and murals. The potential losses are incalculable.”
