The chair of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts says he and three other commissioners have been asked to resign or be fired.
Justin Shubow, chair of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and fierce advocate of classical architecture, provided NPR with a copy of a letter he received from Catherine M. Russell, director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, requesting his resignation. The letter, dated May 24th states, “Should we not receive your resignation, your position with the Commission will be terminated effective 6:00 pm tonight.”
Shubow, appointed to chair the commission by President Trump in 2018, declined the invitation.
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent federal agency that advises the president, Congress, and the D.C. government “on matters of design and aesthetics.” They review designs “proposed for memorials, coins, medals, and new or renovated government buildings.”
Shubow’s response to the White House’s request to resign states, “As chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, I was shocked and dismayed to learn that three of my fellow commissioners, along with myself, have been asked to resign or be terminated by the President. In the Commission’s 110-year history, no commissioner has ever been removed by a President, let alone the commission’s chairman. Any such removal would set a terrible precedent.”
A known hater of modern architecture, Shubow helped craft Trump’s controversial executive order that was intended to promote neo-classical architecture as the official style for federal buildings in Washington, DC., and at new federal courthouses elsewhere.
Many architects howled at the prospect. At the time, Robert Ivy, CEO of the American Institute of Architects, told NPR, “In the 21st century, we’re very different people from the people who popularized Greek Revival architecture in the 19th century, as beautiful as it was,” he says. “To try to force-fit new systems in old forms is, in of itself difficult to do, inefficient, and is not who we are today.”
President Biden revoked Trump’s executive order in February. His executive order also instructed the director of the Office of Management and Budget and any related departments and agencies to “promptly consider taking steps to rescind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies, or portions thereof” that would’ve implemented Trump’s actions. Biden also called for the abolishment of any “personnel positions, committees, task forces, or other entities established” to fulfill Trump’s actions, “as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”
One of the three commissioners asked to resign, landscape architect Perry Guillot, says he was “disappointed” to receive the letter but accepts the decision that his position has been terminated. He was appointed to the CFA by President Trump and began his term in January 2021. He says he does not believe the push for classical architecture was behind the request, telling NPR, “My work is not informed by classical ideals or part of that vocabulary.”
Guillot says he believes the request is more about “the math.” He points out that President Biden will now get four new appointments to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, including chair. “I wish President Biden and the serving commissioners the best moving forward,” he says.
