The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, is ending its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs as a result of an executive order (EO) issued by President Donald Trump on Monday, January 20. The executive order terminates such initiatives across all federal agencies and entities, referring to them as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”
An NGA spokesperson told Hyperallergic that the museum has closed its Office of Belonging and Inclusion in response to Trump’s mandate.
“The employees of that office have been reassigned to already vacant positions elsewhere in the museum,” the spokesperson said.
In addition, the museum has removed any language referring to DEI from its website. On a page outlining the institution’s mission and values, the words “diversity, equity, access and inclusion” have been replaced with “welcoming and accessible.”
Signed on Trump’s first day in office along with a slew of controversial mandates that range from pushing to redefine birthright citizenship to withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the United Nations’s climate change body, the EO requires all federal agencies and departments to end their DEI programs, plans, and initiatives within 60 days.
The order also applies to any accessibility-related plans, equity-related grants, and “environmental justice” positions and offices, invoking a commitment to “expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”
The NGA’s announcement comes three months after Ford Foundation leader Darren Walker was appointed president of the museum. Hyperallergic has contacted Walker via the Ford Foundation for comment.
Established by Congress in 1937, the NGA receives the majority of its funding from the federal government and houses a collection of more than 150,000 paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, photographs, prints, and drawings. Four years ago, the museum launched a $820,000 rebrand focusing on DEI that included a new logo and signage, and involved a commitment to addressing a lack of diverse leadership and staff.
Last weekend, the institution hosted a fundraising dinner for the Trump Vance Inauguration Committee. (A representative for the NGA told Hyperallergic that while it “does not typically allow private events, exceptions have been made for official requests from across previous administrations,” as in an event held for President Bill Clinton in 1993.)
It is currently unclear how other museums will respond to the EO. Hyperallergic has reached out to the Smithsonian Institution for comment.