In October 2023, American artist Negar Ahkami traveled to Uzbekistan as part of an Art in Embassies Democracy Collection artist exchange to speak about her art and experience while learning from Uzbek artists.Read More

In October 2023, artist Arely Morales traveled from her home in Texas to Guanajuato, Mexico, to attend the Festival Internacional Cervantino as a representative of U.S. Embassy Mexico. Festival Cervantino is the largest cultural festival in Latin America celebrating art, heritage, and sports, and this year the United States was a guest of honor. The...Read More

In September 2023, Mexican American artist Beatriz Vasquez traveled to Maseru, Lesotho, on an Art in Embassies Democracy Collection artist exchange where she engaged in cultural diplomacy with audiences across the country. As part of the Embassy’s recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month, she shared artwork inspired by papel picado, a form of traditional Mexican...Read More

In June 2023, artists Tim Davis and Charles Philippe Jean-Pierre traveled to Malawi to participate in an Art in Embassies Democracy Collection artist exchange. Their visit took them from Zomba to Lilongwe and culminated with the Embassy’s Juneteenth celebrations. They met with artists, students, faculty, civil rights activists, and a host of other audiences as...Read More

In May 2023, American photographer Richard Webb traveled to Türkiye as part of an Art in Embassies Democracy Collection exchange where he engaged directly with the Turkish people in Ankara, Cappadocia, and Istanbul. His trip included workshops and photo outings with a variety of audiences, including young artists and other local creatives with whom he...Read More

In August 2023, American artist Ángel Rafael Vázquez-Concepción traveled to Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan, to participate in an Art in Embassies Democracy Collection Artist Exchange in conjunction with the recognition of the UN Day Against Nuclear Testing. Much of Vázquez-Concepción’s art is rooted in the history of atomic culture and nuclear technology in the United...Read More

In May 2023, botanical artist Anne Blackwell Thompson traveled to Slovenia as part of an Art in Embassies Democracy Collection artist exchange, conducting several days of community outreach. Her exchange took her from the capital of Ljubljana to Triglav National Park, the country’s only national park. “Activities included interacting with primary school students, undergraduate and...Read More

In April 2023, American artist Hillary Waters Fayle traveled to Algeria for a week of cultural outreach as part of a Democracy Collection artist exchange. Over the course of four days, she worked with local artisans, spoke with art students, and collaborated with noted Algerian artists and art venues to share her experiences as an...Read More

In March 2023, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian’s Paul Chaat Smith visited New Zealand on an Art in Embassies artist exchange as part of the Democracy Collection initiative. Across five days, three cities, and two islands, he spoke to a variety of groups about the contemporary landscape of Indigenous art in the United...Read More

In March 2023 as part of the Democracy Collection initiative, American artist Zoë Charlton traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania, where she spent five days on an artist exchange conducting outreach with the U.S. Embassy.Read More

In the 1950s and 1960s, the State Department sent a number of musicians, including Louis Armstrong, on international tours of American goodwill across the Middle East and North Africa, earning them the nickname Jazz Ambassadors. In February 2023, Art in Embassies sent Regina Bain from the Louis Armstrong House Museum to Manama, Bahrain, to conduct...Read More

In January 2023, Susan Gott and Derwin Leiva—two Art in Embassies artists—traveled to Guatemala City, Guatemala, as part of the first Democracy Collection initiative artist exchange. Over several days of programming, they met and talked with local students and artists creating in a variety of media to lead master classes, have conversations about life as...Read More