Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Chuck Schumer have publicly called on the General Services Administration (GSA) to take immediate steps to protect significant New Deal-era murals by artists Philip Guston and Ben Shahn. Their letter expresses urgent concern over the potential sale or demolition of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in Washington, D.C., which houses these artworks, and questions the GSA's ability to safeguard the pieces once the building transfers to private ownership.
This matters because the threatened murals are historically invaluable, celebrating the Social Security Act and representing a major federal commitment to public art during the 1930s. The GSA's Fine Arts Collection, containing over 26,000 works, is considered a public trust, and this dispute highlights the ongoing tension between government property management and the preservation of national cultural heritage for future generations.