{"id":1412197,"date":"2026-01-20T11:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1412197"},"modified":"2026-01-20T11:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:00:33","slug":"trump-targets-new-deal-era-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1412197","title":{"rendered":"Trump Targets New Deal-Era Art"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"gh-article post tag-daily-newsletter tag-newsletter no-image\">\n<header class=\"gh-article-header gh-canvas\">\n<p>                Daily Newsletter<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"gh-article-title is-title\">Trump Targets New Deal-Era Art<\/h1>\n<p class=\"gh-article-excerpt is-body\">The national myth of Grandma Moses, Lotty Rosenfeld&#8217;s radical linework, and how will art institutions evolve in 2026?<\/p>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta\">\n<div class=\"gh-article-author-image instapaper_ignore\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-profile-image\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/hyperallergic-favicon-d-blank-r-g-s-500-4.png\" alt=\"Hyperallergic\" title=\"hyperallergic-favicon-d-blank-r-g-s-500-4\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta-wrapper\">\n<h4 class=\"gh-article-author-name\">Hyperallergic<\/h4>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta-content\"><time class=\"gh-article-meta-date\" datetime=\"2026-01-20\">January 20, 2026<\/time><span class=\"gh-article-meta-length\"><span class=\"bull\">\u2014<\/span> 4 min read<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section class=\"gh-content gh-canvas is-body\">\n<p>No rest for the wicked, least of all Trump and his cronies. As the administration continues its attacks on culture, the president is targeting a building near the National Mall with several remarkable New Deal-era murals about social security, which remain as relevant as the day they were painted.<\/p>\n<p>Reporter Aaron Short brings us inside the fight to save this gem of a building, which a new petition describes as a \u201cSistine Chapel\u201d of artworks centering working-class communities that the government abandoned during the Great Depression (and continues to neglect today). <\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t the first time Trump has gone after vital pieces of art and culture, and it won&#8217;t be the last. &#8220;I think the Social Security mural is the best work I\u2019ve done,&#8221; social realist painter Ben Shahn once said about his fresco in the building \u2014 and artists who follow in his footsteps are refusing to let that work so easily be erased.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014<em>Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/service-pnp-highsm-24800-24812-1-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1563\" height=\"879\" title=\"service-pnp-highsm-24800-24812-1-1-1\"><figcaption><span>Left side panel detail of Ben Shahn&#8217;s mural &#8220;The Meaning of Social Security&#8221; at the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building (photo by Carol Highsmith via <\/span><span>Library of Congress<\/span><span>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"activists-fight-to-salvage-the-%E2%80%9Csistine-chapel-of-new-deal-art%E2%80%9D\">Activists Fight to Salvage the \u201cSistine Chapel of New Deal Art\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWe couldn\u2019t stop them from destroying the East Wing of the White House, but I pledge we\u2019ll stop them from destroying the Wilbur Cohen building,&#8221; Alex Lawson, executive director of the advocacy organization Social Security Works, told Aaron Short. Lawson is one of the authors of a new petition to save the historic space in Washington, DC, which houses works by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, and Ethel and Jenne Magafan, just to name a few.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-white kg-cta-immersive  kg-cta-has-img  \" data-layout=\"immersive\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label\"><span>SPONSORED<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/americancraftmadebaltimore_hyperallergic-1.png\" alt=\"CTA Image\" data-image-dimensions=\"1200x628\" title=\"americancraftmadebaltimore_hyperallergic-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<p>                            Learn more<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"from-our-critics\">From Our Critics<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/moses-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" title=\"moses-1\"><figcaption><span>Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma) Moses, &#8220;A Fire in the Woods&#8221; (1947), oil on board (photo courtesy the Smithsonian American Art Museum)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"what-the-smithsonian-won%E2%80%99t-say-about-grandma-moses\">What the Smithsonian Won\u2019t Say About Grandma Moses<\/h3>\n<p>The benign narrative of the beloved artist must be deconstructed, as she also embodies the US\u2019s detrimental values.\u00a0| Bryan Martin<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"uman%E2%80%99s-diasporic-abstraction\">Uman\u2019s Diasporic Abstraction<\/h3>\n<p>The artist paints the distance between the homeland you lose and the one you try to dream back into existence.\u00a0| Qingyuang Deng<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"lotty-rosenfeld-weaponized-the-line\">Lotty Rosenfeld Weaponized the Line<\/h3>\n<p>The Chilean artist knew that survival under authoritarianism requires both sustenance and nerve \u2014 something to live on and something to stand for. | Clara Maria Apostolatos<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-white kg-cta-immersive  kg-cta-has-img  \" data-layout=\"immersive\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label\"><span>SPONSORED<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/from-450-sutter-2014-2019-78x120-1-1.jpeg\" alt=\"CTA Image\" data-image-dimensions=\"1200x675\" title=\"from-450-sutter-2014-2019-78x120-1-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><b><strong>Mitchell Johnson: Two San Francisco Exhibitions of Large-Scale Paintings<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>The Bay Area artist opens 2026 with <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">Large New England Landscapes (Selected Paintings 2008-2025)<\/em><\/i><span> and <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">Giant Abstract and Landscape Works (Selected Paintings 2012-2025)<\/em><\/i><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                            Learn more<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"the-future-of-art-museums\">The Future of Art Museums<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/untitled-design.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" title=\"untitled-design\"><figcaption><span>Left to right: eunice b\u00e9lidor (photo by Jean-S\u00e9bastien Veilleux), Dejha Carrington (photo by Chantal Lawrie), and Lise Ragbir (photo by Hakeem Adewumi)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"this-is-the-year-we-redefine-art-institutions\">This Is the Year We Redefine Art Institutions<\/h3>\n<p>Writer and curator Lise Ragbir sat down with two fellow arts workers, eunice b\u00e9lidor and Dejha Carrington, for a grounding conversation about art museums in 2026\u00a0\u2014\u00a0namely, the roles they should shed and embrace in order to cultivate community and redefine what an art institution can be.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"member-comment\">Member Comment<\/h2>\n<p>Barry Steely on Aaron Short&#8217;s &#8220;The Rise of Contemporary Art Puzzles&#8221;:<\/p>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-yellow\">\n<div class=\"kg-callout-text\">OMG! Can&#8217;t wait to add to my stack of &#8220;waiting to be made&#8221; puzzles. How exciting to have someone interested enough to bring new artists into the mix. I am in my 70s and have been a puzzler for years. Making a puzzle, besides losing oneself in the richness of the colors and designs, allows me to slow down, ignore my responsibilities and actually feel that I have the power to silence all the world&#8217;s (my) chaos, one beautiful piece by piece.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-grey kg-cta-immersive    \" data-layout=\"immersive\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label\"><span>FEATURED OPPORTUNITY<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><b><strong>John Michael Kohler Arts Center \u2013 Arts\/Industry Residency<\/strong><\/b><br \/><span>During this three-month residency, artists work in Kohler Co.\u2019s pottery and foundry in Wisconsin with full studio access, free industrial materials, use of equipment, technical support, housing, round-trip transportation, and a monthly honorarium. Read more on\u00a0<\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">Hyperallergic<\/em><\/i><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Deadline: February 28, 2026 |\u00a0<\/span><span>jmkac.org<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>See more in\u00a0this month\u2019s list of opportunities\u00a0for artists, writers, and art workers!<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"from-the-archive\">From the Archive<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/russell-lee-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" title=\"russell-lee-1\"><figcaption><span>Russell Lee, &#8220;Negroes talking on porch of small store near Jeanerette, Louisiana&#8221; (1938\/2024), silver gelatin print (photo courtesy Art Bridges)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"reclaiming-a-whitewashed-history-of-the-great-depression\">Reclaiming a Whitewashed History of the Great Depression<\/h3>\n<p>A new exhibition focuses on Black Southerners documented by photographers like Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Ben Shahn. | Monica Uszerowicz<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-tags\">\n<li>\n                        Daily Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<li>\n                        Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/nycedc-habg-rfp2025-hyperallergicannouncementad-1-5.jpg\" alt=\"Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"nycedc-habg-rfp2025-hyperallergicannouncementad-1-5\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Learn about this opportunity to develop a cultural education center at the historic East Harlem site during informational sessions in January and February.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/madsen_maud_playthegame-1-4.jpeg\" alt=\"New York Academy of Art Presents \u201cChubb Fellows &amp; Friends\u201d\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"madsen_maud_playthegame-1-4\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">New York Academy of Art Presents \u201cChubb Fellows &amp; Friends\u201d<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Featuring past fellows alongside a broader circle of artists linked to the Academy, the show brings together work by Danica Lundy, Dana Schutz, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald, and more.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">New York Academy of Art<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/for_which_it_stands-4.png\" alt=\"For Which It Stands\u2026\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"for_which_it_stands-4\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">For Which It Stands\u2026<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, this major loan exhibition at the Fairfield University Art Museum explores more than a century of artists taking on the American flag.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">Fairfield University Art Museum<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2025_07_10_argenis_apolinario_sva_mfa_install_0463-4.jpg\" alt=\"Grow as an Artist Without Pressing Pause: SVA\u2019s Online MFA Art Practice\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"2025_07_10_argenis_apolinario_sva_mfa_install_0463-4\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">Grow as an Artist Without Pressing Pause: SVA\u2019s Online MFA Art Practice<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Interdisciplinary, online, and connected to New York\u2019s art ecosystem. Applications are due on January 15.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">School of Visual Arts (SVA)<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/trump-targets-new-d\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daily Newsletter Trump Targets New Deal-Era Art The national myth of Grandma Moses, Lotty Rosenfeld&#8217;s radical linework, and how will art institutions evolve in 2026? Hyperallergic January 20, 2026\u2014 4 min read No rest for the wicked, least of all Trump and his cronies. As the administration continues its attacks on culture, the president is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-1412197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-hyperallergic-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1412197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412197\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1412197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1412197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1412197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}