While some art media outlets focus on the influential and affluent, Hyperallergic proudly champions those without power. Presenting our 2025 list of the 20 Most Powerless People in the Art World. This annual compilation counters the usual market-driven lists of collectors, elites, and influencers.
Those featured here are far from helpless; on the contrary, they exhibit incredible resilience and fortitude. This list honors their strength and the inspiration they provide. As is customary, we’ve infused some entries with humor, a valuable tool of resistance. Here’s to a future where power is shared more equally.
1. International Art Students — They come seeking quality education, often emptying their savings for high tuition fees, only to be perceived as security threats. The short-term sufferer here is the student, but the ultimate loser is the U.S. higher education system.
2. Arts Organizations Receiving Federal Grants — Countless museums and groups were left in the lurch when Trump and Elon Musk’s temporary DOGE dismantled promised support from the National Endowment for the Arts and similar bodies. Some grants have been restored, but for many, the damage was already done.
3. Undocumented Artists — Overlooked by the art world, they now face the danger of deportation to nations they’ve never known. The art community must do more to protect these vulnerable creators.
4. Smithsonian Institution — Heavily dependent on government funding, the Smithsonian finds itself in a toxic cycle. The Trump administration exploits this by escalating pressures, including a list of supposedly ‘divisive’ artworks, leading to the dismissal of Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery.
5. Trans Artists — Consistently appearing on this list, trans and nonbinary artists experienced a harsh year under Trump’s policies, which threaten gender-affirming care and deny their existence in official terms. Amy Sherald, a leading American painter, even canceled a Smithsonian show over fears her work might be censored.
