A few weeks ago, during Art Basel Paris, I started to hear about the American Arts Conservancy, a nonprofit that supposedly had something to do with the United States pavilion at the 2026 edition of the Venice Biennale. It was just months before the opening of the Olympics of the art world, and the US still had no representative. So I did some digging.
The organization was founded in Tampa, Florida, in April 2025. For its first few months, it kept a low profile. In late August, the State Department announced that AAC will partner with Art in Embassies—a State Department office that advances soft diplomacy by installing art in diplomatic facilities around the world—to “broaden the global reach and resonance of US artists.” There was a link to the website, where AAC has listed a variety of initiatives in its remit, including the 61st Venice Biennale.
“In alignment with our mission of preservation, education, and diplomacy, AAC continues to support initiatives that celebrate American art in dialogue with the world,” the site reads. “The United States Pavilion at the Venice Biennale stands as a symbol of our nation’s creative spirit and its contribution to global culture.”
On the same site, there’s a section devoted to its board advisers, which includes the Greenwich philanthropist Mackenzie Brumberg, the Palm Beach socialite Nicola “Coco” Verses, the entrepreneur Ryan Coyne, and Nicole McGraw, the Palm Beach art dealer whom President Donald Trump tapped to be the ambassador to Croatia.
And when I went to follow the American Arts Conservancy on Instagram, I noticed they were following just 32 accounts, among them President Trump, first lady Melania Trump, former Republican National Committee cochair Lara Trump, Art in Embassies director Erin Elmore and her fiancé, Dan Scavino, and Code and Theory founder Brandon Ralph. The account was also following sculptor Alma Allen, who makes porcelain and ceramic works in a gigantic warehouse an hour outside of Mexico City.
Now we can confirm, via sources with knowledge of the exhibition, that Allen will represent the United States at Venice. He’s best known for making large-scale sculptures, sometimes giant works carved from rock sourced near his studio outside Mexico City, sometimes in bronze cast at the foundry in his studio. A source close to the exhibition said we can expect to see such works in Venice, as well as a custom-made sculpture in the main court outside, and another in the center room inside the pavilion structure.
