President Donald Trump sent shock waves through the world of arts and culture on Friday when he announced on Truth Social that he intends to appoint himself chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and terminate multiple board members. The unexpected move is one of many — big and small — that Trump has made to stamp his vision on the arts since taking office last month.
On Inauguration Day, Trump dissolved the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. That decision wasn’t a surprise (Trump also disbanded the group during his first administration after 17 members resigned in protest over his response to a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.), but the action — along with Trump’s designs on the Kennedy Center — should ring alarm bells for anyone who cares about the wider impact of the arts on the country and the world.
The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, established by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 to advise on issues of cultural and artistic import, was resurrected by President Joe Biden and included glitzy members such as George Clooney and Shonda Rhimes. Lady Gaga was its co-chair. It was stocked with curators, arts administrators, philanthropists, scholars and artists. Public records show that its budget was a mere $334,947 and that it advanced a total of nine recommendations — four of which were fully implemented — during its last two years of operation.
According to information on the Federal Advisory Committee Act database (FACA), the committee’s purpose was to advance policy objectives “with respect to community well-being; economic development and mobility; public, physical, and mental health; education; resilience and adaptation, as well as combatting climate change; civic and democratic engagement; and support for the artistic and cultural heritage of the United States.”
There are a number of phrases in the committee’s stated goals that would have raised red flags with those seeking to implement the policy objectives of the current administration, including mention of climate change and cultural heritage. But I’m willing to bet that it wasn’t those things that made the committee a target — it was simply its existence as a mechanism for promoting a healthy arts and culture ecosystem. The same could be said of the Kennedy Center, which stands as the nation’s preeminent bastion of arts and culture.
As a tool for dissent, the arts are unrivaled. They also build empathy, encourage creative problem-solving and build strong communities. None of these values appear to currently have a place in Washington.
Executive orders can’t make the arts go away, but they can impact them in ways large and small. Tariffs could make shipping art into the country more costly; immigration and visa restrictions could keep visiting artists away; dwindling federal funding could severely harm small, local organizations that rely on grants to stay afloat financially; and orders against DEI — and hostility toward trans and nonbinary people — could result in a less equitable landscape for art makers and workers.
It’s imperative that those of us who care about arts and culture remain aware and vigilant about how big swings in Washington can affect the institutions and people we hold dear. For example, I’ll be keeping a close eye on how upcoming cuts to the Department of Education may play out for the arts in public schools. When it comes to patching up the harm done, the work will have to be grassroots — one school, one program, one local theater company or art museum at a time.
I’m arts and culture writer Jessica Gelt reminding you to not let your zone get flooded. Ashley Lee and I are here with this week’s arts news.
Best bets: On our radar this week
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Erin Pineda, left, and Virginia Newcomb in “Alabaster” at the Fountain Theatre.
(Nathan James)
‘Alabaster’
The L.A. premiere of Audrey Cefaly’s Pulitzer-nominated play, about a woman recovering after a natural disaster hit her hometown, has become quite timely, given that our city is dealing with the aftermath of the devastating wildfires. Directed by Casey Stangl, the production of the darkly comic Southern drama exploring women, art and healing stars Laura Gardner, Carolyn Messina, Virginia Newcomb and Erin Pineda. Performances start Wednesday and run through March 30. Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave, L.A. fountaintheatre.com
Camerata Pacifica
The chamber music ensemble is traveling with compositions by George Gershwin, Kurt Weill, Arnold Schoenberg and Lara Morciano, as well as Claude Debussy’s “Clair de lune.” After performing this past weekend in Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks, the group takes this program to the Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall (7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino) and the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall (8 p.m. Thursday, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown). cameratapacifica.org
‘Wired for Wonder: A Multisensory Maze’
It’s officially time for Kidspace Children’s Museum to get in on all the PST Art goings-on. “This interactive maze for children and adults alike uses color, light, movement, texture, vibration and smell to immerse participants fully in a world of the senses — and to reclaim the joy of free play and unstructured exploration,” we wrote of the exhibition, which opens Saturday and runs through Aug. 1. Kidspace Children’s Museum, 480 N. Arroyo Blvd., Pasadena. pst.art
— Ashley Lee
The week ahead: A curated calendar
Chief Willie Sellars in the documentary “Sugarcane,” screening Tuesday at the Museum of Tolerance.
(Emily Kassie / Sugarcane Film)
MONDAY
Monday Night PlayGround Staged readings of six new 10-minute plays, based on the prompt “If I Had a Song: Folk-Inspired Short Musicals,” are part of PlayGround-LA’s 13th season.
7 p.m. Broadwater Second Stage, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. playground-la.org
TUESDAY
The Music of Wadada Leo Smith The trumpeter and composer joins the Red Koral Quartet for his String Quartet No. 17.
8 p.m. Monk Space, 4414 W. 2nd St. brightworknewmusic.com
Sugarcane Filmmaker Emily Kassie introduces her and Julian Brave NoiseCat’s Oscar-nominated documentary about the cover-up of cultural genocide perpetrated on Indigenous communities in Canada.
7 p.m. Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd. museumoftolerance.com
THURSDAY
Don’t Touch My Hair IAMA Theatre Company presents a workshop production of the concluding play in Douglas Lyons’ “The Deep Breath Trilogy: New Plays for Black Women.”
Through Feb. 24. Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave. iamatheatre.com
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Palm Springs Modernism Week is upon us. The event starts Thursday and continues through Feb. 23, as it celebrates Midcentury Modern architecture, art, interior design and landscape design — of which there is plenty — in and around Palm Springs. The event features more than 350 tours and programs, all of which are open to the public with the purchase of a ticket. Times staff writer Lisa Boone has helpfully rounded up a list and handy map of homes you don’t want to miss, including Elvis’ honeymoon hideaway.
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Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, “La Chamba Paleta Lime Flavor,” 2024, laser etching on fluorescent acrylic, MDF popsicle stick, U.S. dollar folded into airplane, 70 Mexican pesos placed inside acrylic paleta.
(Marka27 Design Studios)
Street artist Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez has won this year’s Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize, which, according to a news release, honors artists “whose work has made a profound social impact, and interfaces with key issues of our times connected with social justice.” The $25,000 prize also includes a solo project presentation at Frieze Los Angeles. Quiñonez will debut his “I.C.E. SCREAM” series — paintings and sculptural installations that “confront the immigrant experience and speak to the beauty, strength, and resilience of migrant workers, street vendors, and Indigenous cultures.”
Music-world heavyweight David Geffen is being sued by Hong Kong–based cryptocurrency tycoon Justin Sun for the return of an Alberto Giacometti sculpture titled “Le Nez.” Sun’s suit alleges that after he bought the piece for $78.4 million in 2021, his former advisor concocted a scheme to sell it to Geffen without his knowledge. The suit further alleges that Geffen’s team should have seen through the ruse.
A 311-year-old Stradivarius violin called “Joachim-Ma” sold for $11.25 million at Sotheby’s in New York on Friday. That was below advance estimates of between $12 million and $18 million, but it’s still one of the most expensive musical instruments ever sold at auction. The Guinness World Records title is held by a Stradivarius violin called “Lady Blunt,” which sold for $15,875,800 in London in 2011.
And last but not least
I don’t know about you, but I miss the good old days when Grumpy Cat memes reigned during Twitter’s 2012 heyday.