Amy Sherald’s “Trans Forming Liberty”

The cover of the August 11, 2025, issue, by the artist Amy Sherald, is a portrait of the trans model and performance artist Arewà Basit. The art work is featured in Sherald’s show “American Sublime,” currently on view at the Whitney. The exhibition was originally set to open next month at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, in Washington, D.C., until Sherald learned that the museum was considering removing the painting from the exhibit. Sherald, in response to her perception that the Smithsonian was capitulating to political pressure, decided to cancel her show. A spokesperson for the Smithsonian said that they were trying to contextualize rather than replace the painting, but the Trump White House criticized the inclusion of Sherald’s work. Lindsey Halligan, a special assistant to the President, released a statement claiming that the painting was a reinterpretation of “one of our nation’s most sacred symbols through a divisive and ideological lens.”

“ ‘Trans Forming Liberty’ challenges who we allow to embody our national symbols—and who we erase,” Sherald said. “It demands a fuller vision of freedom, one that includes the dignity of all bodies, all identities. Liberty isn’t fixed. She transforms, and so must we. This portrait is a confrontation with that truth.”

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