FREE Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden Grand Opening

SCULPTURE GARDEN AND PLAZA OPENING OCT 31, 2026 The revitalized Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden will open to the public on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, following a four-year transformation of its 1.3-acre landscape. The renewed garden is designed to showcase more artworks from the national collection, welcome more visitors, and reunify the museum’s campus. Nearly sixty sculptures—an increase of 50% from the previous installation—will be placed within a environment featuring almost 30,000 newly planted trees and plants. The result is a space that encourages public engagement with important art from Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s visionary gifts and today’s most compelling sculptural practices.  Architect and artist Hiroshi Sugimoto has reimagined the Sculpture Garden with deep respect for Gordon Bunshaft’s original design. His plan restores Bunshaft’s long-closed underground passageway, reconnecting the garden to the Museum plaza and creating a seamless visitor experience across the campus. Sugimoto also introduces dry‑stacked stone walls—hand‑cut from 950 tons of stone—to emphasize the importance of stone in Bunshaft’s design and in the evolution of sculpture itself. These walls shape distinct areas and invite exploration, especially in the East Garden, where major Modernist bronzes by Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, Henry Moore, and others appear alongside recent acquisitions and commissions by artists from around the world. The stone surfaces provide a timeless backdrop for both sculpture and performance.  Architectural updates throughout the garden expand public access with five entry points, including a wider “front door” on the National Mall and wide ramps from the north and south. New east and west overlooks and flexible spaces for commissions, performances, and time‑based artworks enhance the experience, particularly within the Central Garden and the West Lawn as well as expanded seating and shade throughout.  In the East Garden, foundational Modernist works—including five sculptures by Moore and two by Barbara Hepworth—reflect Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s close relationships with artists. Nearby, four sculptures by David Smith, arranged within a central planting bed, highlight his groundbreaking contributions to Abstract Expressionist sculpture through his innovative use of welded metal. Additional works gifted and bequeathed by Hirshhorn on view include significant sculptures by Rodin, Lucio Fontana, Elisabeth Frink, Willem de Kooning, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Germaine Richier, and Tomonori Toyofuku. The Central Garden operates as a revised entry-exit to the reopened passageway and introduces an expanded water feature that can be filled to create a reflective, cooling surface or drained to accommodate seating for performances, artists talk and art education.  The West Garden presents a dedicated green space for special presentations encircled by recent acquisitions by artists such as Mark Grotjahn, Raven Halfmoon, Lauren Halsey, and Liz Larner. Yoshitomo Nara: Sentinels of Stillness (October 31, 2026–November 7, 2027) will inaugurate the West Lawn. The Sculpture Garden will reopen with free public programs including a celebratory opening weekend, October 31-November 1, 2026.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

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FREE Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden Grand Opening

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