Lingít and Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin and Mexican-American sculptor Margarita Cabrera withdrew from a symposium at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), alleging that the institution’s decision to make the event private effectively censored participants amid pressure from the Trump administration. “I come from a lineage that has endured attempted erasure through cultural, linguistic, and spiritual silencing,” Galanin wrote in a statement on Instagram. “My work is only possible because of the ancestors who persisted and refused to be silenced; who continued to carry our culture and pass on that responsibility to me, to speak to a larger audience than was able to see or hear them.” “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture” at SAAM, in which Galanin’s work is included, was named in President Trump’s first executive action targeting the Smithsonian as an example of what he called “inherently harmful and oppressive” content. Trump also took issue with the ex...