Amy Sherald, the former Baltimore artist who painted former first lady Michelle Obama’s portrait, has withdrawn her solo show from the Smithsonian Institute’s National Portrait Gallery, saying that museum officials attempted to censor her painting of a transgender woman posed as the Statue of Liberty.

Artist Amy Sherald’s “American Sublime” would have been the first solo show by a contemporary Black artist at the National

Sherald believes that the present threat of erasure and pointed legislative attacks on the trans community necessitates the piece's inclusion.