national portrait gallery

KS Standing 2020 Credit_ Grace Roselli .jpg

President Trump said he fired a Smithsonian museum director. Can he do that?

5:00am June 09, 2025

by Elizabeth Blair

Since taking office, President Trump has aggressively tried to reshape cultural institutions. Last month, he claimed he was firing the director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

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Maya Lin, in 1988, examining inverted water table being fabricated for the Civil Rights Memorial she designed to be installed in Montgomery, Alabama.

Arts

Maya Lin doesn't like the spotlight — but the Smithsonian is shining a light on her

5:00am November 12, 2022

by Chloe Veltman

Heavily criticized 40 years ago for her Vietnam Veterans' Memorial design, the artist-architect-activist prefers to talk about her artistic process rather than her life

"We fully respect and support the Sackler family's decision," says a spokesperson for the National Portrait Gallery in central London, after a gift was withdrawn. Members of the Sackler family are accused of pursuing profits on OxyContin amid an opioid cr

Sackler Family's Donation To British Museum Is Quashed Over Opioid Fallout

1:44pm March 20, 2019

by Bill Chappell

The U.K.'s National Portrait Gallery and the Sackler family — owners of the company that makes OxyContin — say they're concerned that allegations of profiteering could overshadow the gift.

Obama stands between the portraits. His will be permanently installed in the "America's Presidents" exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Arts

Paintings Of Barack And Michelle Obama Unveiled At Portrait Gallery

1:21pm February 12, 2018

by Camila Domonoske

The former president and first lady chose artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald — the first African-American artists to receive such a commission — to paint them for the museum's collection.