Over President’s Day weekend in 2017 (Thursday, February 16, through Tuesday, February 21), the Davis Museum de-installed or shrouded all works of art in its permanent collections galleries that were either created by or given to Wellesley’s art collection by immigrants to the United States in an initiative called Art-Less. In response to President Trump’s executive order banning travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, Art-Less demonstrated the critical role that immigrants to the United States have played in the arts, both in their creative contributions as well as their stewardship of the visual arts.

Approximately 120 works of art—roughly 20 percent of the objects on view in the Museum’s permanent collections galleries—were either taken down or covered in black cloth and absences created by the removal or obscuring of works from view were marked with labels that indicate “made by an immigrant” or “given by an immigrant.” Smaller labels indicating the immigrant status of an artwork remain in the galleries, alerting visitors to the object’s inclusion in the project. This tour highlights select objects throughout the galleries that are part of Art-Less, exploring the stories and importance of immigrants to the United States in the Museum’s collection.