A former Kennedy Center curator says his “heart really sank” when he walked into a room of gifts from African nations that had been stripped bare in a single day, and donors fear for the center’s irreplaceable artwork as President Donald Trump’s controversial overhaul continues.
Josef Palermo, who was laid off in March and has since become a whistleblower, told CNN the center’s Africa Lounge was cleared out in one day. The room had housed dozens of works donated by African nations, including 12-foot double doors carved from a 700-year-old tree in Nigeria.
“Walking into it when it was hollowed out and darkened and my heart really sank,” Palermo said. “The room was completely stripped bare.”
The room is now being used for storage, and the Kennedy Center says the art remains on site and that preservation efforts are underway.
Palermo has also said he was told last year to remove all of the center’s outdoor art because Trump wanted “all new art for the reopening.” The abstract “Blue” sculpture was abruptly taken down in September, though the center called the removal “common practice.”
The Kennedy Center, where Trump serves as board chairman, has closed for a two-year renovation. CNN reported that worried donors, artists and their families have been calling and emailing for months. They want to know what’s being done to protect the pieces, whether they’ll be moved and whether they’ll ever come back.
Some told CNN they feared speaking out while their artwork is still inside.
“I want to get that sculpture out of there,” one donor said.
The concerns began late last year, when officials drafted a plan for permanently removing artwork. According to internal documents reviewed by CNN, it envisioned possible “disposal” through means including “public sale, or destruction.” Center officials now say the plan was never meant as a sweeping purge, and the center told CNN its collection has been comprehensively cataloged for the first time in its history.
One person close to the center who works with donors described a “disjointed response,” and that person said officials offer assurances that “everything is safe and sound” but offer no details.
“There is a major concern that a lot of this artwork is being pushed around the center,” the person said.
Many of the pieces were gifts from foreign governments in honor of President John F. Kennedy after his assassination. Italy supplied the Carrara marble for the building’s facade, France donated Matisse tapestries and Austria gave a crystal chandelier.
Meanwhile, this month the center quietly convened its first “visual arts committee” to curate and expand its displays, according to CNN. Its recent additions include gold-leaf portraits of Trump and Elon Musk, on temporary loan to the REACH, a smaller venue on the complex.
Officials insist all artwork will be “fully safeguarded” during construction and say there are no other planned changes to the art on display.