Annabelle Selldorf and Gregory Wessner on ‘Whose America?’

The National Academy of Design is celebrating 200 years since its founding with an exhibition titled ‘Whose America?’, which will run at its New York headquarters until 10 January 2026. Inaugurating a year-long celebration, the show takes a critical look at how the cultural identity of the United States has been shaped. Works from over 30 artists, including Glenn Ligon, Guadalupe Maravilla, Faith Ringgold and Martin Wong, are drawn on to ask: who is America? Who does it belong to? And who writes its history?

Since its founding in 1825, members have been elected annually by their peers to join the academy’s community of artists and architects – a recognition that honours their contributions to the arts in the US. Below, Gregory Wessner, executive director of the academy, and Annabelle Selldorf, a multi-award-wining architect who was elected a National Academician in 2012, discuss art, architecture and what those within each field misunderstand about the other.

Gregory Wessner What’s unique about the National Academy of Design’s position in the US is its longevity. It predates every art school and art museum in New York City. Secondly, such organizations tend to self-segregate, but our membership is a combination of both artists and architects.

Annabelle Selldorf Bringing architects and artists together furthers what we understand about each other’s work. If I, as an architect, create a building, it’s my responsibility to understand who is going to live there, who that person is and what fosters engagement and good dialogue. In this context, it’s great when your work resonates not just with your fellow architects but with artists and others outside the profession. I am constantly striving to get the type of work that makes connections with people, so being elected to the National Academy was – and still is – quite  affirming.

GW We started planning ‘Whose America?’ [2025–26] three years ago, and we really couldn’t be happier that it landed in this [political] moment. Given what has been going on in the country, we thought we should use our 200th anniversary not just to celebrate ourselves, but to ask difficult questions. What role did the National Academy play in defining American art? What does it mean to make art in a federal republic? Who is America and who does it belong to? So we’re showing artists whose work asks those questions and perhaps answers them, too.

This moment [in US history] is interesting because it demonstrates the power that the fine arts and architecture have to communicate values. Clearly, the US administration recognizes this because they’re going after [individuals and institutions in these fields]. For example, in architecture, they want to impose a certain classical style based on what they think American architecture should be.

AS It’s not classical architecture that is being promulgated here, it’s self-aggrandizing, pompous architecture, and that can take any number of shapes. They are trying to dictate an architecture for public buildings that promotes power and intimidation as its basic message. We need to counter that at every turn.

GW They’re targeting the arts and using it to communicate a superficial message because they recognize that there is power there. A lot of people will say that the National Academy helped establish an American canon because, through the election of academicians, it encoded an understanding of the values of excellence [in art and design]. But many were left out of that history. Which is why ‘Whose America?’ is trying to tell a different story to the one that was told the first time around.

AS And what is this new story?

GW If I’m being honest, I think the National Academy was not relevant for most of the 20th century. It had little interest in European modernism or new developments in the visual arts. Instead, it leant more towards that which was figurative or realist. Now we’re trying to tell a more diverse story and bring in new voices. But Annabelle, what are some of the pressures that architects face today?

AS I’ve been practising for over 40 years, and what’s astonishing is that the pressure doesn’t abate. You serve society, and you try to do that with integrity, but at the same time you are reliant on clients who pay you. You have to navigate regulatory processes, understand the consequences of climate disaster – take your pick. Architecture is not about choosing where the window goes; it’s a more complex endeavour. And you need to bring your clients along so they are also willing to take on what might be seen as a risk by some.

GW What do you think artists and architects misunderstand about one another’s practices?

AS Architects are jealous of artists because they think artists don’t have any pressures or stresses. I, on the other hand, go to exhibitions and think, I’m so glad I’m not an artist – how would I possibly come up with something meaningful? Artists, in a sense, have to be a fountain. And architecture is a big body of water that moves as a result of the pressure of different tides.

GW I’ve had artists tell me they are envious of architects’ budgets, but I’m not sure they recognize those large budgets aren’t even enough to keep a building standing or dry. Ultimately, architecture is public art that people have to engage with. Who wouldn’t love to have that kind of captive audience?

To allude to something you said earlier, I do think having the community, affirmation and exchange [of the National Academy] is important. Hopefully, you and your peers also support one another.

AS Yes, I think we do and we need to advocate for a greater understanding, outside of the profession, of the contribution of architects. And it is the same for artists – now, more than ever we need more creative voices helping us understand the world we live in.

‘Whose America?’ runs until 10 January 2026 at the National Academy of Design, New York 

_{Main image: Rafael Ferrer, Empire’s Mirror (detail), 2012, installation view in ‘Whose America?’, 2025-26. Courtesy: National Academy of Design; photography: Argenis Apolinario}