MASSACHUSETTS: The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, chose to take off display, all work created or donated by immigrants, throughout President's Day weekend. In an initiative they called 'Art-Less', curators draped black cloth over cases, and lined the walls with labels that read 'Created by an immigrant'. The move was meant to highlight immigrants' impact even in the world of art.
"We have removed or cloaked these works to demonstrate symbolically what the Davis Museum would look like without their contributions to our collections and to Wellesley College, and to thereby honour their many invaluable gifts," the museum said. One of the main missing works, is a portrait of George Washington. Not only was the painting was created by an immigrant, Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller, who came to the US in the 1790s, it was donated by an immigrant family to the Davis Museum, as well. Officials said over 20 per cent of the work in its permanent galleries were either created or donated by immigrants.
