Trump censored my painting for being too “woke.”
Rigoberto is a renowned artist who lives in the border region of Texas. Originally from Mexico, his work depicts the reality of life for the community surrounding him—including the struggle of many families to reach the United States and achieve the promise of the American dream.
His 2020 painting “Immigrants Crossing the Border Wall Into South Texas” has been exhibited at the Smithsonian. In an August 2025 post, the White House singled it out as being too “woke” and followed up with a tweet saying: “This is what President Trump means when he says the Smithsonian is ‘OUT OF CONTROL.'”
When Rigoberto found out about this, he felt proud. He sees it as his responsibility to discomfort the comfortable and speak truth to wannabe tyrants like Trump. He says that in our authoritarian moment, artists must refuse to be silenced by this administration in its campaign to muzzle art and free expression.