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Works by two sa国际传媒官网网页入口 artists, Vicente Telles and Stephanie J. Woods, are currently on view at the Smithsonian Institution鈥檚 National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., as part of the museum鈥檚 prestigious triennial exhibition, 鈥淭he Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today,鈥� which opened Saturday, Jan. 24.

The juried exhibition 鈥� a celebration of contemporary American portraiture 鈥� was previously set to open in October but was postponed after a federal government shutdown forced the closure of national museums. It now opens amid escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the Smithsonian Institute regarding diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Telles, who was excited to come to the October opening with his family, is currently out of the country and will no longer be able to attend.

鈥淢y experience with the actual (National Portrait Gallery) curators has been amazing, but the experience with moving the dates has been frustrating,鈥� Telles said, 鈥渂ecause now I am not able to attend something I鈥檝e been dreaming about my whole life.鈥�

Over 3,300 artists submitted work for the 2025 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 鈥� the Outwin, for short 鈥� an endowed competition established by National Portrait Gallery docent and benefactor Virginia Outwin Boochever (1920鈥�2005). Of these, 36 winners were selected.

Woods, who often makes installations with nontraditional materials, had not considered applying to the competition until 2019, when she attended that year鈥檚 exhibition with her friend Antonius-T铆n Bui, who had a performance-based video work in the show.

鈥淚 thought that was really exciting,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the reason I even applied, because I was like, Wow, they鈥檙e accepting video pieces and performance art? It seemed as though they would be really open to many different forms of portraiture.鈥�

Woods鈥� portrait, titled 鈥淢y Papa Used to Play Checkers,鈥� features a Black subject鈥檚 hair, elegantly braided over a watermelon and adorned with beads and barrettes. The anonymous portrait subject wears a robe, hand-dyed by the artist to resemble a checkerboard. Woods said she uses watermelons in her work as a way of reclaiming an image associated with racist stereotypes and to remind viewers that the fruit had originally symbolized Black economic autonomy in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.

Woods arrived at her current practice of creating faceless, sculptural 鈥減ortraits鈥� after realizing that the inclusion of recognizable faces distracted audiences from her ideas.

鈥淚n 2012, I was showing more of the face, and I noticed that people were gravitating more to the identity of the individual, as opposed to larger narratives I was exploring in the work, like cultural symbols and narratives about identity,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淪trangely, the solution to making the narrative more directed toward identity was to eliminate the identity of the individuals in the image.鈥�

Telles鈥� portrait, titled 鈥淐obija de Florecitas 鈥� Commodities鈥� (鈥淏lanket of Little Flowers 鈥� Commodities鈥�), is also an 鈥渁nonymous鈥� portrait, featuring culturally loaded symbols. In Telles鈥� painting, the subject鈥檚 face is hidden under a burlap bag that once held pinto beans. Their shoulders are wrapped in a quilt that Telles鈥� grandmother made. Pigeons perched on the subject鈥檚 lap and shoulder also have their faces covered 鈥� in their case, by empty cans of government-issued pork and milk.

鈥淧into beans are a vital source of protein but also became a term that was used in a derogatory way toward people who consumed beans and ate food that was different than 鈥楢merican鈥� food,鈥� Telles said. 鈥淲e were called beaners. But when I start talking about the derogatory terms that are used toward immigrants or people who have been here for generations, who are of Mexican, Latino or Nuevo Mexicano heritage, sometimes that conversation is a little difficult for people.鈥�

Telles said he began incorporating images of pigeons into his work to help facilitate those tough conversations.

鈥淲hat kind of language is used about pigeons? They say they鈥檙e flying rats, or they鈥檙e dirty, or they鈥檙e everywhere. It鈥檚 exactly the same terminology and language used against us as human beings,鈥� Telles said. 鈥淪o, that (allows us) to have conversations about 鈥� those kind of words that are used. And let鈥檚 talk about how we can be better human beings to each other and a little more aware of those people in our communities, who make our communities run, who are faceless.鈥�

When the National Portrait Gallery opened in 1962, it focused on representational paintings of influential American men, but its collection has gradually expanded to be more diverse and inclusive, while also embracing a much wider range of media, including photography, video and performance art. The Outwin has been at the forefront of these changes, often showcasing portraits in nontraditional media by contemporary artists exploring the complexities of identity and what it means to be American from a wide spectrum of perspectives.

鈥淭he show has a lot of queer and brown people telling queer and brown people stories,鈥� Telles said.

While such exhibitions have not been particularly controversial in the past, they have increasingly attracted the ire of prominent Republican politicians, including President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration has been publicly battling with the National Portrait Gallery and other Smithsonian Institute museums for months, with a White House official in August, 鈥淧resident Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian.鈥� 

鈥淲oke,鈥� as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, means 鈥渁lert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.鈥�

What the administration wants, according to , chief culture writer for The Guardian, is for 鈥渕useums to reflect a MAGA vision of American history that (is) nationalist and triumphalist.鈥�

In light of this larger political context, some Outwin artists, including Telles, have expressed concern that the long-postponed exhibition might be shut down after it opens.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited for this (exhibition), but also kind of nervous,鈥� Telles said. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 being completely honest, I think the show is going to open, and then it鈥檚 going to be closed. That鈥檚 my projection 鈥� but we鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�

The National Portrait Gallery already made one apparent concession. After the White House in August that the Smithsonian would be required to submit all exhibition materials, including proposed wall texts, to be preappoved by government officials, the curators made the decision to forego explanatory wall texts altogether.

Woods and Telles had both crafted detailed descriptions of their portraits to give insight into deeper cultural meanings that audiences might otherwise miss. Woods鈥� description, for instance, highlighted the post-Emancipation meaning of the watermelon 鈥渁s a fruit used by African Americans to enact and celebrate their freedom and property rights.鈥� It also discussed the history of West African women braiding seeds and grains into their hair during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade 鈥渁s a means of physical and cultural survival.鈥�

鈥淥nce that description is not with it, it changes the work,鈥� Woods said.

The artists saw the decision to present the art without didactic panels or descriptions as an unfortunate but necessary decision to ensure that the work would be seen at all.

鈥淪o, all these pieces 鈥� are there without any explanation 鈥� which is fine, as well, (because) art is meant to be interpreted by those who look at it,鈥� Telles said. 鈥淗aving an explanation would have been an amazing thing, but it鈥檚 not an option anymore.鈥�

Telles hopes the meaning of his art will still shine through.

鈥淭hese experiences of Nuevo Mexicanos like myself 鈥� and Latinos across this country 鈥� these are experiences that can鈥檛 be taken away. They can鈥檛 be whitewashed,鈥� Telles said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e here, we鈥檝e always been here and we鈥檒l continue to be here. 鈥� This (artwork) tells a story that鈥檚 one little snippet of one experience that hopefully will resonate with the experiences of Latinos across the country who get to see it.鈥�

Woods, who plans to attend the opening, looks forward to seeing diverse perspectives highlighted on the national stage.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be really powerful to see,鈥� she said.

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .