Kennedy Center donors move to save artworks as disposal plan surfaces

Donors who gave sculptures and tapestries to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. are quietly trying to get them back.

Artists, their families and foreign governments fear the works could be sold, moved or destroyed during a costly renovation and leadership shake-up, according to reporting by ARTnews on 20 October 2026. The Kennedy Center houses hundreds of artworks and antiquities, including sculptures and tapestries donated or loaned by benefactors and other countries.

The stakes are clear in the building. France donated tapestries by Henri Matisse. Tunisia donated a reproduction of a third-century mosaic for the rooftop terrace. Donors told the outlet they are now asking what has happened to their gifts and whether they can reclaim them.

At the centre of the concern is an internal Kennedy Center document. Officials have been working since at least late 2025 on a plan that proposed “disposal” of artworks by “return to country of origin, transfer or exchange with another institution, public sale, or destruction.” That language covers the full range of ways a museum can remove work from a collection, including deaccession, the formal process for taking an object out of institutional care.

Kennedy Center officials told ARTnews that all artwork will be fully safeguarded during the renovation, with some pieces relocated if necessary. They said the cornerstone of the collection — historic international gifts given for its opening — remains intact. They said the proposal contemplating destruction was never envisioned as a sweeping purge. A spokesperson added the centre remains in regular contact with foundations and entities who donated art.

One work has already left. Donald Trump, who is chairman of the Kennedy Center board, ordered the disassembly and removal of a monumental sculpture by American artist Joel Shapiro from the grounds. That gifted sculpture was later sold to David Rubenstein, the centre’s former chairman.

Staff changes have added to the unease. Josef Palermo, formerly curator in charge of visual art programming at the Kennedy Center, was laid off earlier in 2026. Palermo wrote that he had been instructed to begin removing artworks on view. A separate plan for art removal targeted 15 works, the New York Times reported in September.

There are other loose ends. The Kennedy Center recently convened its first visual arts committee with no announcement. Sources told ARTnews that objects belonging to the Kennedy Center archives have been inadvertently taken home by staffers.

The leadership context is blunt. Trump took control of the board and is preparing for a major renovation of the building, a project CNN and the Daily Beast both described in October as costly and disruptive. For donors, that means paperwork matters now. Provenance, the documented chain of ownership, and the original gift agreements will decide who gets to stand in front of these works next, and where.