A State Department-backed art exhibition in Washington, D.C., has drawn pointed criticism from Slate writer Christina Cauterucci, who characterized the show as a shallow, ideologically driven display that exemplifies the Trump administration's broader approach to arts and cultural institutions.

The exhibition, titled Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy, is mounted at the Art Museum of the Americas, a venue operated by the Organization of American States. Its title nods to the approaching U.S. semiquincentennial in 2026, a milestone the federal government has begun commemorating through a designated commission and related programming. Among the exhibition's featured works are AI-generated portraits of America's Founding Fathers by artist Brandon Ralph, who created the images by processing famous historical paintings through an artificial intelligence model trained to mimic his personal photographic style. On his Instagram, Ralph describes them as the "first-ever photographic portraits" of the nation's founders—a claim that has drawn skepticism given that photography was not invented until decades after the founders' deaths, and that AI image generation remains a subject of active debate in the art world over questions of authorship, originality, and whether machine-produced images qualify as art at all.

Cauterucci questioned the artistic merit of the portraits, which present familiar figures such as John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington in hyper-detailed, computer-generated close-ups. "I suppose one could take away something profound from the sight of George Washington's stubble as imagined by a computer program… But Passport to Patriotism does not encourage such searching interpretations," she wrote.

Cauterucci framed the exhibition as a deliberate counterpoint to Smithsonian displays the Trump administration has considered insufficiently flattering. "A declaration of uncomplicated national pride, the exhibition comes as a rebuttal of sorts to Smithsonian displays that the Trump administration has deemed insufficiently flattering to the American ego," she said. "In this context, Ralph's portraits read not as an invitation to ponder the founders' imperfections but as a symbol of Donald Trump's war on the arts." That broader effort has included an executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution and calls to revise federally funded museum presentations of American history.

The exhibition includes additional works that drew similarly harsh assessments. Cauterucci described Henri Reed's paint-spattered canvas of an eagle in flight as "objectively hideous, and not in a deliberate, statement-making way." She noted that Fer Da Silva, a friend of the exhibition's organizers, contributed a painting of a heart in turquoise and gold spangles and reportedly boasted in an Instagram video that the piece's inclusion would raise its monetary value.

Other works, while technically competent, were likened to "banal works you might find at a tourist gallery on the main drag of a seaside town." Cauterucci summarized the overall impression as resembling "a seasonal HomeGoods display around the Fourth of July."

The exhibition features approximately five dozen interpretations of the U.S. flag, along with abstract works that Cauterucci suggested may have been selected primarily for their red, white, and blue color palettes.

The exhibition's programming also reflects a broader pattern at the museum. According to the Washington Post, museum leaders canceled two exhibitions last year after determining that their focus on international Black and queer artists could conflict with Trump's executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The cancellations align with a wider rollback of DEI initiatives across federal cultural agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, both of which have seen leadership changes and programmatic shifts under the current administration.

"Now, in service of an ideology that brooks no deviation from blind nationalism, Passport to Patriotism advances a shallow vision of U.S. identity with all the nuance of a propaganda reel and all the sophistication of the art project your first grader brought home on Flag Day," Cauterucci wrote.

Cauterucci reported that the exhibition was organized without input from any historian or art curator. One of the key organizers, Art in Embassies Director Erin Scavino, is a former Apprentice contestant and the wife of Trump's deputy chief of staff. Art in Embassies, established in 1963 under President Kennedy, has traditionally served as a quiet instrument of cultural diplomacy, curating exhibitions in U.S. diplomatic missions worldwide. Another organizer, identified as a friend of Scavino's, previously owned a pet-food store before being appointed to a senior national arts position. Both women reportedly have personal connections to several artists featured in the show.

"In the broadest sense, Passport to Patriotism is an embarrassing travesty of a public art exhibition. But on Trump's terms, it's exactly as it should be," Cauterucci concluded.

The exhibition's title, which references 250 years of diplomacy, was described by Cauterucci as having been "slapped on as an obligatory justification for State Department sponsorship," given the disconnect between the theme and the artwork on display.