White House Denounces Artworks and Shows at Smithsonian, Free Admission at Rockbund Art Museum and More: Morning Links for August 22, 2025

Good Morning!

The Headlines

TRUMP’S BAD LIST. On Thursday night, the White House appeared to denounce a range of artworks, shows, and objects on view at the Smithsonian Institution, continuing President Donald Trump‘s protest against the museum network, as ARTnews reports. Published on the White House website as an article called “President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian,” the list included some shows that the president had already decried, including one about sculptures as signifiers of power at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He also once again attacked the National Museum of African American History and Culture for displays about “white dominant culture,” something he had already singled out in an executive order earlier this year. But the list also named several presentations that Trump had never before referenced—one of which has never even been mounted at a Smithsonian museum. On the list was a painting of a Black trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty by Amy Sherald that was to appear in a National Portrait Gallery version of her traveling survey. Sherald pulled that iteration of the exhibition, alleging censorship and claiming that the museum had asked her not to show this painting, which had already appeared in the Whitney Museum edition of the exhibition. 

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM. In 2025, Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) became one of the few private museums in China to offer free admission, celebrating its 15th anniversary with a bold move aimed at promoting accessibility. According to executive director and chief curator X Zhu-Nowell, the decision reflected the museum’s core values, though it brought unexpected challenges, The Art Newspaper writes. The initiative launched in May with exhibitions by Ash Moniz, Cici Wu, and Irena Haiduk. Initially, timed-entry bookings were required via WeChat, but by June 11, RAM removed the system in response to citywide guidance encouraging fewer access barriers. Without pre-booking, crowds surged, and the museum quickly hit its 500-person daily capacity—sometimes hours before closing—prompting visitor frustration and long queues. Tensions peaked when one visitor, who had been turned away, posted online about receiving a cold response from RAM’s official account: “Please don’t come back.” RAM later issued a formal apology, and Zhu-Nowell followed with a personal statement. To address the surge, RAM introduced a hybrid system combining next-day reservations and same-day walk-ins. When TAN visited in July, entry was smooth. Reflecting on the experience, Zhu-Nowell acknowledged the growing pains of adapting to unexpectedly high attendance for a small, independent museum.

The Digest

Frieze has revealed details about the collaborations, funds, and prizes that will play out during this year’s Frieze London and Frieze Masters, slated to take place from October 15 to 19 in London’s Regent’s Park. Frieze said the projects highlight its “ongoing role in fostering long-term support for the arts.” [FAD]

After 8 years of planning and over $52 million, Sweden is slowly rolling a historic Lutheran church several miles to accomodate an expansion of Europe’s biggest underground mine in the Arctic town of Kiruna. [Guardian]

Read about how an Australian farmer built an indigenous art trove over half a century. [AFR]

Chanel has teamed up with the Pinacoteca de São Paulo to launch a new annual residency for women artists. Each year, the chosen resident will be given the studio space and resources to develop their practice, guided by dedicated mentorship. [Artnet News]

The Kicker

CULTURE VULTURES VS. GEEKS. A degree in computer science was once seen as a surefire route to stable employment and a high starting salary. Art history graduates, meanwhile, in 2022 faced some of the highest unemployment rates among recent college grads. But as Hyperallergic notes, that dynamic appears to be shifting. New data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that, in 2023, recent art history graduates had a lower unemployment rate than their computer science counterparts—3 percent compared to 6.1 percent. The figures, released this year, reflect a consistent two-year lag. The same report found that anthropology majors faced the highest jobless rates, while graduates in civil engineering and healthcare fields enjoyed the most stable employment. The job outlook for recent graduates made headlines earlier this month after the New York Times highlighted the surprisingly high unemployment rates among computer science degree holders. According to the latest Fed data, the 2023 unemployment rate for computer science graduates was double that of art history graduates—a sharp reversal from the year before, when 4.3 percent of computer science majors were unemployed compared to 8 percent of art history majors.