The Observer: “Last week, several workers in the art and preservation unit of the General Services Administration (GSA) were placed on leave before being informed that their offices and positions would soon be eliminated. According to reporting by the Washington Post, the action affected more than half of the division’s approximately three dozen staff members and led to the shuttering of at least five regional offices. An email signed by GSA administrator Stephen Ehikian and sent on March 3 told recipients that the missive served “as notice that your organizational unit is being abolished along with all positions within the unit—including yours.” The GSA has not responded to requests for comment. The GSA’s art and preservation division oversees the protection and preservation of more than 26,000 artworks owned by the U.S. government. The collection includes paintings and sculptures by renowned artists like Mark Rothko and Louise Nevelson, contemporary works commissioned through the GSA’s Art in Architecture Program and historical works, like Depression-era Works Progress Administration commissions—the fate of which is now uncertain and potentially imperiled by a lack of oversight and care. Among the most at-risk pieces are iconic public artworks that have become integral to the visual identity of American cities. In Chicago, Alexander Calder’s 1974 red Flamingo towers in front of the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building. In Washington, D.C., Michael Lantz’s 1942 Man Controlling Trade stands outside the Federal Trade Commission building, and Ben Shahn’s 1942 fresco The Meaning of Social Security—a powerful New Deal-era work—adorns the interior of the Social Security Administration building. Notably, the elimination of the unit was accompanied by the GSA’s announcement of plans to sell off more than 400 “non-core” federal buildings—roughly 50 percent of its portfolio—and to terminate thousands of leases, some of which house significant artworks. On March 4, just a day after the termination email went out, the GSA published a list of the properties it intended to sell, only to delete it soon after as the situation unfolded. Under the title Non-core property list (Coming soon), the GSA’s website now states that it is “identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties, for disposal,” adding that “selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces,” and that “disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.”