The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has announced the first eight acquisitions to be installed in its renovated outdoor sculpture garden. These include works by Mark Grotjahn, Raven Halfmoon, Lauren Halsey, Izumi Katō, Liz Larner, Woody De Othello, Chatchai Puipia, and Pedro Reyes. Japanese photographer and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto of the Tokyo-based New Material Research Library is responsible for the sculpture garden’s redesign, which will reopen in October.
The eight works will be installed at the sculpture garden’s home along the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The museum intended to underscore the institution’s commitment to supporting public access to art. This is the sculpture garden’s most significant transformation since it first opened in 1974.
San Francisco–based artist Woody De Othello will present Cool Composition (2026), a large-scale rendition of his distorted, boxed fan sculptures, which honor memories of his family gathering around a fan to escape the harsh Miami heat. The piece also raises questions about air quality and circulation. American abstract painter Mark Grotjahn will unveil an untitled bronze cast of one of his mask works, assembled from cast-off cardboard and resembling an anthropological artifact. The artist has gifted the work to the museum in honor of its 50th anniversary.
Dancing at Dusk (2024) by sculptor and painter Raven Halfmoon, a member of the Caddo Nation, references contemporary Native life alongside ancestral tradition. The carved stone sculpture depicts faces stacked atop one another and a headpiece that echoes the ornamental regalia worn by female Caddo dancers.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles–based artist Lauren Halsey’s keepers of the krown (antoinette grace halsey) (2024) pays homage to Halsey’s community in South Central Los Angeles with a massive column inscribed with local signs and advertisements. The column is topped with a portrait of the artist’s grandmother.
Japanese multidisciplinary artist Izumi Katō’s Untitled (2026) will feature an otherworldly figure assembled from stones sourced in Japan, cast in aluminum, and painted. The work is informed by an ancient myth that asserts natural elements contain spirits. American sculptor Liz Larner has long explored the “X” motif in her mirrored stainless-steel sculptures. At the Hirshhorn, she will present 6 (2010–11), a continuation of this series in which two multicolored cubic forms intertwine.
And Thai artist Chatchai Puipia’s Wish You Were Here (2008) offers a monumental bronze work based on the artist’s lower body, with its legs crossed and torso wrapped in traditional Pha Khao Ma cloth. The piece, which sees the figure lying as if on its back, conveys the tension and interplay between the modern world and ancient cultural traditions.
Lastly, Mexican multidisciplinary artist Pedro Reyes will unveil Tonatiuh (2023), which is carved from volcanic stone collected from the Popocatépetl stratovolcano in central Mexico. The piece, named in honor of the Mexican sun deity, features a circular carving in its center that juxtaposes the stone’s irregular edges and echoes shifting sunlight.
“As we near the completion of the Sculpture Garden's renovation, we are pleased to share the first details of some of the new acquisitions that will soon welcome visitors,” said Hirshhorn director Melissa Chiu in a press statement. “This revitalization was envisioned to showcase art of the 21st century while honoring the modernist icons already at the heart of our collection. These first additions demonstrate how the garden will serve as a vibrant stage for contemporary voices on our National Mall for years to come.”
