Which painting by Amy Sherald titled “Trans Forming Liberty,” depicting a Black transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty, was slated to open at the National Portrait Gallery before it was withdrawn amid the Trump administration’s review of Smithsonian exhibits?

Question

Which painting by Amy Sherald titled “Trans Forming Liberty,” depicting a Black transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty, was slated to open at the National Portrait Gallery before it was withdrawn amid the Trump administration’s review of Smithsonian exhibits?

Accepted Answer

On July 23, 2025, Amy Sherald notified Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III that she would withdraw her mid-career retrospective “American Sublime” from the National Portrait Gallery after museum officials, under pressure from the Trump White House’s review of “woke” exhibits, considered removing her painting “Trans Forming Liberty” — a 2024 portrait of actor Arewà Basit as a Black transgender iteration of the Statue of Liberty (, ). The work, which challenges traditional symbols of freedom by centering trans identity, later appeared on the cover of The New Yorker (August 11, 2025) ().

Which painting by Amy Sherald titled “Trans Forming Liberty,” depicting a Black transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty, was slated to open at the National Portrait Gallery before it was withdrawn amid the Trump administration’s review of Smithsonian exhibits?

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