On Wednesday, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent an open letter to General Services Administration Administrator Ed Foster questioning the organization’s stewardship of its fine arts programs and fine art collections.
The GSA safeguards more than 26,000 artworks and artifacts owned by the U.S. government, including murals, paintings, sculptures and environmental artworks by artists such as Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson, Jacob Lawrence and Philip Guston.
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In their letter, the senators noted that the General Services Administration has announced 46 buildings that have been identified for “expedited disposition,” a process that could expedite the sale of the properties, which are home to numerous works of art.
Of particular interest to the senators was the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, which has several murals celebrating the Social Security Act of 1935, a landmark piece of New Deal legislation. These include a group of murals by Ben Shahn titled The meaning of social securitythree panels depicting the social ills that preceded the New Deal, and several subsequent panels depicting an idealized New Deal vision. The building also contains a large mural by Guston, Family reconstruction and happiness, and two works by Seymour Fogel, national wealth and people’s safety.
as art news It was reported in December that the building, a Washington landmark on the National Register of Historic Places and the Washington, D.C., Register of Historic Places, was being sold by the Trump administration as part of cost-cutting measures. The government is also considering demolishing the building and selling the land.
“The General Services Administration is selling the building, but it has committed to obtain a preservation deed to ensure continued maintenance of the murals after the sale of the Cohen Building. However, it is unclear how the General Services Administration plans to continue to oversee the works once ownership completely changes hands to private interests,” the senators wrote.
They went on to accuse the GSA of “mismanaging” the art in their collection and called on the GSA to take “proactive measures” to protect the works.
“The fine art collection belongs to the American people, and the GSA must fulfill its responsibility to preserve and protect these works for future generations,” they wrote.
To that end, senators directed a series of inquiries to the GSA, seeking documents, accounting and explanations related to the management of the art collection, the proposed sale of the Cohen Building and plans for the mural’s preservation.
Last year, the Trump administration slashed the General Services Administration’s workforce as part of an effort to cut government spending.
