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Steven Nelson

@snelsonus.bsky.social
4.8K followers 828 following 504 posts

Executive Director, Sam Gilliam Foundation; UCLA professor emeritus; and left-handed art historian who sees lots of shiny objects. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you're going to cast online aspersions on someone's intellectual ability, you might want to proofread your screed for grammatical errors and typos before posting. #protip
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Monica Byrne @monicabyrne13.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"'Access journalism'" is not about the journalist having access to the regime, but the regime having longtime access to the journalist. It is a common prerequisite in mafia states." -- @sarahkendzior.bsky.social
sarahkendzior.substack.com
Gutting the Fourth Estate
The US media were willing cogs in Trump’s machine. Now he’s tearing it down.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Last weekend at the Armory Fair... www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts...
newyorker.com
Currently on View in an Art-Fair Booth
If the art market ceases to exist, you’ll at least have a painting of Bart Simpson.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Exactly.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is Lonnie Bunch's retirement, not his resignation. As upset as some people are with his news, having worked in the Federal Government, sometimes we can be more effective from the outside than from within. I can't wait to see what he does once he's untethered. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/a...
nytimes.com
Smithsonian’s Secretary to Resign as Trump Tries to Rule the Institution (Gift Article)
In the face of escalating White House attacks about how museums present American history, Lonnie G. Bunch III has announced his decision to depart.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Gloria Steinem was one of my sheroes, a model of feminist practice and a inspiration for so many of us. Because of her, I subscribed to Ms. Magazine for years. Both deeply influenced my own thinking and writing. Rest in Power. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/u...
nytimes.com
Gloria Steinem, Personification of the Feminist Movement, Dies at 92 (Gift Article)
She challenged sexist assumptions, helping women develop a sense of self-worth and gain a measure of equality at work, at home and in society at large.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This is how our government has been corrupted: 1) Donors give huge sums to elect politicians to office 2) Elected officials rewrite rules in the donors' favor 3) Donors make huge profit 4) Repeat We must get big money out of politics. It is the root of our dysfunction.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
If I were still in academia, I would move to a Canadian institution in a heartbeat. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/w...
nytimes.com
Canada Hires U.S. Scholars From Harvard and Other Top Universities (Gift Article)
A crackdown on American academia by the Trump administration has handed Canadian universities a rare opportunity to lure some top researchers north.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A great development at UCLA newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucl...
newsroom.ucla.edu
UCLA launches nation's first digital humanities department
Future-ready students, forward-looking research: The new department brings a humanistic approach to AI and other emerging technologies.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Judge strikes down Texas ban on drag shows, tells people offended by them ‘just don’t go’
nbcnews.com
Judge strikes down Texas ban on drag shows, tells people offended by them ‘just don’t go’
The federal judge, who cited Dolly Parton in his ruling, found that the state law violated the First Amendment.
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Library of Congress @librarycongress.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The Library is devastated to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton, a music legend and titan of children's literacy. Her Imagination Library program has earned multiple Library Literacy Awards and, in 2018, she visited us to donate its 100 millionth book to our collection and host a story time. 🦋❤️
Dolly Parton reads to children in the Library’s Great Hall in 2018. Photo by Shawn Miller.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Be a Dolly, not a Donald.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Corporate Democrats are on the defensive because their campaign cash isn’t working the way it used to. Now, finally, the Democratic Party has an opportunity to once again become the party of working Americans, as it used to be, rather than the party of the wealthy elite.
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God @thegodshow.com · 19/08/2026
Call me crazy, but perhaps being related to a Senator who died doesn’t qualify you to be a Senator.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Andrew Baker's essay is a critical counterpart to Tyler Austin Harper's recent anti-DEI screed published by The Atlantic.
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Rae Radford @raeradford.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Absolutely! #BookSky
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Important research and soft censorship by the State of Arkansas.
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“ 'It is clear that the National Gallery interpreted "Color Lines’"as a problem to be solved rather than as an important academic conference,' Nelson wrote in his essay, which was published in October, a quarterly academic journal on art history."
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Ian James @ianjames.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“Going forward, it will be easier for the National Gallery to marginalize or suppress ideas, artwork, and exhibitions that challenge the status quo. Museum staff will learn self-censorship.”
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Tyler Green @tylergreenbooks.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I'm a scholar and a media executive producer/host, not former staff. This comports with my professional experiences of the Trump-era National Gallery of Art.
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Shirley Wajda @stwajda.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
"Nelson concludes that such preemptive self-restriction, rather than protecting institutions, normalizes self-censorship and transforms #museums into complicit agents of authoritarian control, undermining their stated commitments to diversity, academic freedom, and the free exchange of ideas."
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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Indeed, soft censorship as it’s called here is how censorship often works. Institutions and individuals preemptively edit themselves and each case closes the Overton window and further delimits expression
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Very glad to see this out there. Steven is an incredible leader and scholar (and, to be clear, dear friend).
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Pat McDermott @twinsetpat.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I just finished reading Nicholas Enrich’s book about the dismantling of USAID, Into the Wood Chipper, in which he writes about recognizing where one has moral limits, about complicity. This another story about recognizing complicity. 👇🏾👇🏻👇🏽👇🏼👇🏿
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I wrote an essay on the moving of the 2025 Wyeth Symposium from the National Gallery and the implications of such an action. Titled “Soft Censorship,” the piece recently appeared in the journal "October." Today the NYT published this article based on the essay. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/a...
nytimes.com
National Gallery Accused of ‘Soft Censorship’ to Avoid Provoking Trump (Gift Article)
A former executive with the Washington museum says it moved a symposium about race in art to avoid political blowback.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Same doorway, Provincetown, MA, 1984/2026.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
An important reminder to a nation full of pious busybodies:
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Perhaps moderate/establishent Democrats should start reading the room. Voters are not swayed but their empty policy positions and are waking up to the fact that they had a part in clearing the way for authoritarianism’s ascendancy. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/u...
nytimes.com
Moderate Democrats Prepare for ‘War’ Against an Ascendant Left (Gift Article)
One moderate group says the progressive wins are “deeply troubling” and is planning a $15 million effort against democratic socialism.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Kim Sajet, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum and former director of the National Portrait Gallery, interviewed in the NYT on the Trump Administration attack on the Smithsonian, particularly on Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian Museum of American History. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/a...
nytimes.com
For Museum Boss Who Became a Trump Target, It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again (Gift Article)
Kim Sajet left as director of the National Portrait Gallery when she found herself in the White House cross hairs. Now she’s watching another Smithsonian chief go through it.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Hoping that Yale doesn’t capitulate to the Trump administration. americanprospect.bluelena.io/index.php?ac...
americanprospect.bluelena.io
Yale loses the Capitulation Bowl
The university’s...
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Carolina A. Miranda @cmonstah.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Wonder Twin Powers ACTIVATE!!!!
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Betye Saar would have tuned 100 on Thursday. She was an incredible artist and an amazing interlocutor. Rest in Power. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/a...
nytimes.com
Betye Saar, Artist Who Upended Black Stereotypes, Dies at 99 (Gift Article)
Working with dolls, family photographs, fabric scraps and other found objects, she became a leading figure in assemblage art.
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Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele @drdragases.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Good grief, this hits home.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
This is what authoritarianism looks like. Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/a...
nytimes.com
Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum (Gift Article)
President Trump said the signage at the National Museum of American History would correct what a disputed White House report described as “extreme political activism.”
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
"The Upperman family’s move underscores a reality institutions may increasingly face: if donors believe the original purpose of their gifts can no longer be honored, they can take both their money–and their legacy–somewhere else." www.theroot.com/why-a-promin...
theroot.com
Black Family Pulls $1 Million Endowment From UNC Wilmington
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
So who's going to tell artist Sergio Furnari that Michaelangelo's David and Pietà as well as DaVinci's Mona Lisa were commissioned? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
New York sculptor spent $100,000 to make a Charlie Kirk statue no one wants to buy
Sergio Furnari said he thought the lifesize sculpture – which no one commissioned – would raise ‘millions’ of dollars
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Statement from Annie Farmer on meeting with Todd Blanche: "After meeting with Todd Blanche, I feel even more confident in urging senators to vote against his confirmation as the United States' Attorney General. "I found him abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal to survivors."
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Jon Adcock @jonadcock.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
#booksky
A man holding a book up and saying “I find this book offensive” the librarian responds “ cool. Give it back so I can lend it to someone who doesn’t “
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
No lies detected.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Ripley, OH was a center of Underground Railroad activity and the home to John Parker and John Rankin, who it is said helped thousands escape bondage in the South. Parker’s house in on the Ohio River, which separates Ohio from Kentucky and before the Civil War, separated freedom from slavery.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 14/07/2026
This morning in Biddeford, Maine, a 26-year-old man said goodbye to his wife and daughter and left for work. Moments later he was dead, shot in the head by ICE agents, the second man ICE has killed in six days. ICE is killing our neighbors. ICE cannot be reformed. Abolish ICE.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I hope the Yale Law School short circuits any deal with the Trump administration. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/07/u...
nytimes.com
Yale Law School Fights to Stop Trump Deal
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
First time academic book authors. Do your reviewers a favor and include a TOC with page numbers. #academicpublishing
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
I appreciate the @theguardian.com’s willingness to call this group what it is. Neo-fascist group Patriot Front parades Confederate flag in Washington DC on Fourth of July www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Neo-fascist group Patriot Front parades Confederate flag in Washington DC on Fourth of July
Hundreds of masked members of the white supremacist organization marched and chanted in the US capital
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Brilliance at the Barbie Pond on Ave Q in DC.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
In working on my current book called, "Structural Adjustment: Mapping and the Visual Cultures of Blackness," I came across a graphic I made for the Boston Globe in 1985 for a story written by @markmuro1.bsky.social on maps and their biases.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
David Hockney, revolutionary British artist, dies aged 88 www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
David Hockney, revolutionary British artist, dies aged 88
Bradford-born painter, who made his name with sun-kissed visions of California, has died
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
I'm thrilled to share that I have been appointed as the inaugural Executive Director of the Sam Gilliam Foundation, charged with advancing Sam’s legacy and fostering programs and initiatives that support emerging artists and thinkers in their work. samgilliamfoundation.org/news/dr-stev...
samgilliamfoundation.org
Dr. Steven Nelson Appointed Inaugural Executive Director of Sam Gilliam Foundation | Sam Gilliam Foundation
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
I have so much respect for Lonnie Bunch. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/a...
nytimes.com
Curating in the Cross Hairs: Is This the Smithsonian Chief’s Last Show?
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Colbert was unleashed by CBS, which could make him more influential than he already is. I hope he takes full advantage of his freedom.
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