A painting by an artist famous for his portrait of President Obama has been removed from an American embassy, with the U.S. government looking to sell the piece. The removal, based on accusations that the painting and its artists are too “woke,” represents the latest move by the Trump administration to push its agenda even through art.
Administration criticizes Kehinde Wiley, removes his painting from embassy
The New York Times first reported that a painting by artist Kehinde Wiley had been removed from the United States embassy in the Dominican Republic. The painting, titled “Young Artists After Siamesas 1960,” depicts four Dominican models, two sitting and two standing, against a background displaying an elaborate floral pattern.
The painting’s removal was dramatized by U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Leah Campos. In a video posted by Campos, the painting has been covered by a large tarp with a pattern of the American flag. Workers then remove the tarp in order to take the painting down from the embassy wall, eventually placing it face-down on covering placed across the floor, all as the song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” plays. In the caption to the video, Ambassador Campos wrote “In the Trump Administration and under my leadership we are turning away from globalist and woke ideologies and instead embracing American patriotism and the beauty of our great country!”
As reported by the Times, the removal comes amid criticism from administration officials about the painting and its artist, Kehinde Wiley, who is most famous for his 2018 portrait of former President Barack Obama. Erin Scavino, director of the Art in Embassies program within the State Department, publicly criticized the painting as “very woke” and “aesthetically terrifying.” And the State Department has criticized Wiley for another painting, which he characterized as “a play on the ‘kill whitey’ thing” and for allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by fellow artist Joseph Awuah-Darko, which Wiley denies. “The work of an individual with such violent and racist words and depictions has no place in the America First State Department,” said a spokesperson for the department. Having removed Wiley’s painting, which was commissioned by the State Department in 2013, the government is now exploring options for selling the work of art.
Trump administration pushes political agenda through art
The removal of the painting appears to be part of a politicization of the Arts In Embassy program, which was established by President Kennedy in 1963. Scavino, appointed by Trump in 2025 to lead the program, is a former contestant on Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice” who recently married Trump advisor Dan Scavino. Ms. Scavino, in turn, appointed Jenni Parido to be commissioner of the United States Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, an event in Italy that is known as the world’s most prestigious art exhibition. Parido had no prior experience curating art but was a friend of Scavino through events at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. In addition to putting inexperienced Trump associates in top positions within the State Department’s art program, the administration has been seen as removing or promoting art in ways to drive its political agenda and the personal preferences of Trump officials. Scavino, for instance, has boasted of having a painting that she called “satanic baby art” removed from the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Romania, and she claimed to have terminated the ambassador from the role over the incident.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has censored or publicly criticized exhibits at public institutions such as the Smithsonian. And Trump and his hand-picked allies have routinely interfered with the operations of the Kennedy Center, leading to many artists cancelling their performances at the venue. The Trump administration is now threatening to demolish the Kennedy Center if their changes, including illegally adding Trump’s name to the organization, are not allowed to continue. Trump has also moved or added insulting descriptions to portraits of past presidents with whom he’s clashed, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden and George W. Bush.
These moves paint a picture of the Trump administration placing allies of the president in top positions of the administration’s art programs and using that influence to promote Trump’s conservative agenda. Now, the artist who became best known as President Obama’s portraitist has now been targeted by the Trump administration