THE UNRAVELING
September 13-October 3 2025 at St. Petersburg Warehouse Arts District, FL
Since 1961, the U.S. Agency for International Development has been pivotal in global humanitarian efforts and development — delivering aid, bolstering health systems, and providing disaster relief around the world. In January of 2025, the agency was publicly dismantled in a matter of days, with almost all employees fired and programs cancelled. The result has been a near collapse of the entire foreign aid industry in the United States, with almost 20,000 American jobs lost and over 230,000 jobs lost worldwide. Ali Syverson, an artist and former climate and environmental writer for USAID, has used paintings as a way to reflect on the United States’ evolving presence in the world, and process the complete upheaval of her career and life in Washington D.C. The Unraveling takes the viewer on a journey of destruction, rest, rooting, and regrowth in the months since the Agency was dismantled — and encourages reflection on the relationship we have with institutions, community, and each other.
Section 1: Destruction
Just seven days after the new administration began in 2025, the first group of USAID employees were terminated. Fourteen days in, the entire web presence of USAID’s history was wiped from the internet, and employees were not allowed to enter headquarters. Companies in America and around the world received an immediate halt to the funds that USAID were legally obligated to pay, and in a matter of days, these organizations began to go bankrupt. Ali used art as a way to handle the uncertainty of her employment status during this time – and ultimately, commemorate the work that the agency did around the world after it was completely dismantled.
Section 2: Rest
In the wake of destruction or upheaval, resisting and rebuilding may feel like the first course of action. Oftentimes, it can be more beneficial to pause beforehand – rest fosters opportunities to reflect and reconnect with our power, and approach future solutions with energy. Ali spent 40 days in Europe after moving out of DC, where she painted outside every day and met people who showed sympathy for the very publicized end of her career – which was a reminder that there are ways to create meaningful relationships with people in other countries and cultures while our institutions increasingly taking a more isolationist stance.
Section 3: Rooting
When our institutions fail or do not meet our needs, we must ask: how can we find ways to support ourselves and each other? Nature has always made shifts to resist, rebuild, restore, and create — and continues to be resilient despite continued attempts by people to destroy it. In our human society, we could learn to emulate the behavior of natural ecosystems – like plants and their pollinators that live in mutualistic relationships, or mushrooms and their mycelium network that connects and supports the entire ecosystem. In the weeks and months after the dismantling of USAID, mutual aid networks and community-driven support systems were incredibly strong amongst the affected group of people. Interpersonal connections like these bring life, hope, and resilience. Rooting into these structures, along with the beauty, peace, and the promise of resiliency derived from time spent in nature, kept Ali afloat and optimistic despite persistent uncertainty.
Ali’s work as a climate writer is deeply steeped into this section. With the cancellation of crucial environmental and agricultural programs around the world, fragile ecosystems are in danger, and honoring these elements through art is a way to keep a sense of reverence and awe for our natural world. These paintings are symbolic in that the roots of science, expertise, and activism cannot be so easily destroyed by a wildfire in the sector – the values that have been upheld for decades can grow back and be fruitful in new forms.
Section 4: Regrowth
In the aftermath of destruction, rest, and re-rooting, there lies an opportunity to rebuild, possibly better than before. As we look to a future without USAID and an increasingly isolationist country, how can we heal the social fabric of our country and show up for each other at an individual and community level when aid is needed? It’s hard to say what the future of the international aid sector will be – but in the interim, we can celebrate and cherish the beautiful, multicultural aspects of our world, and find joy in creating and maintaining connection with one another.
Section 5: Photos of USAID programs
The United States Agency for International Development was the world’s largest aid agency. From 2001 to 2024, USAID had an average budget of $23 billion a year and missions in over 100 countries in areas as diverse as education, global health, environmental protection, and democratic governance. From 2001 to 2021, an estimated 91.8 million deaths, including 30.4 million among children under five, were likely prevented by USAID funding. Established in 1961 during the Cold War by President John F. Kennedy, USAID was designed to counter the Soviet Union through the use of soft power across the world. In 1998, USAID was reorganized by the United States Congress as an independent agency. In the first few months of 2025, the Trump administration terminated 83% of USAID’s projects. In July 2025, the administration announced that the remainder would be run by the State Department, with USAID in the process of closing. Nonetheless, the budget requests, the Office of Inspector General, and court filings have continued to acknowledge USAID’s legal existence beyond that date, as only an act of Congress can formally dissolve the agency.
Thank you to the Warehouse Arts District for hosting this event, Jude Leitten for curating, and the USAID photographers for showing their work. Below is a listing of associated press related to the event:
The Unraveling: A Future Without USAID - The Artisan Magazine
Powerful exhibition on the impact of USAID makes global debut in St. Pete - I Love the Burg