‘Los Valores Que Nos Unen’

The removal of Kehinde Wiley’s 2015 painting, Young Artists After Siamesas 1960, from the US Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was part of a whole graphic makeover of the building unveiled in July 2026, which vinyl wraps every flat surface in patriotic slop. Wiley’s painting, commissioned in 2013 for the new embassy, depicts four Dominican art students in poses referencing paintings by two Dominican modern artists. If by hiding the painting behind a tarp they mean, “pretending there are no Black people,” I guess that is indeed a value that unites DR and the US. The current ambassador, Leah Campos, is a former CIA employee whose sister was on Real World: San Francisco and is married to Sean Duffy, who was on Real World: Boston.