Overview

• Her mid-career survey “American Sublime,” set to open in September, would have been the first solo exhibition by a Black contemporary artist at the National Portrait Gallery.
• Smithsonian staff raised internal concerns about “Trans Forming Liberty,” which depicts a Black transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty, and discussed dropping it from the show.
• In a letter to Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, Sherald said the conditions no longer supported the integrity of her work as conceived.
• The Smithsonian said it understood her decision but expressed disappointment that audiences will miss the exhibition.
• The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art issued a statement backing Sherald’s artistic vision and respecting her choice to withdraw.