Hirshhorn Names First Eight Sculpture Garden Acquisitions as Hiroshi Sugimoto Redesign Nears October Reopening
When the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden reopens its outdoor sculpture garden this October, visitors on the National Mall will be greeted by a newly redesigned landscape — and eight newly announced acquisitions that signal where the museum wants its public-facing program to go next.
The Hirshhorn said the first works slated for installation in the renovated garden are by American artists Mark Grotjahn, Raven Halfmoon, Lauren Halsey, Liz Larner, and Woody De Othello; Japanese artist Izumi Katō; Thai artist Chatchai Puipia; and Mexican artist Pedro Reyes. The redesign is led by Japanese photographer and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto, working through the Tokyo-based New Material Research Laboratory.
The museum framed the announcement as part of a broader commitment to public access, emphasizing the sculpture garden’s prominent location in Washington, D.C., and its role as an open-air extension of the Hirshhorn’s collection. The project also marks the garden’s most substantial overhaul since it debuted in 1974.
Several of the new works are newly made or newly configured for the site. San Francisco–based sculptor Woody De Othello (b. 1991) will install “Cool Composition” (2026), an enlarged version of his boxed fan sculptures, whose warped domestic forms draw on memories of family members gathering around a fan to endure Miami heat. The work also points outward, toward contemporary anxieties about air quality and circulation.
Los Angeles–based artist Lauren Halsey (b. 1987) will bring “keepers of the krown (antoinette grace halsey)” (2024), a monumental column inscribed with the visual language of South Central Los Angeles — local signage, advertisements, and neighborhood typography — capped by a portrait of the artist’s grandmother.
Raven Halfmoon (b. 1991), a sculptor and painter and a member of the Caddo Nation, will present “Dancing at Dusk” (2024), a carved stone work that stacks faces in a vertical arrangement. A headpiece echoes the ornamental regalia associated with female Caddo dancers, linking contemporary Native life to ancestral tradition.
From Japan, Izumi Katō (b. 1969) will contribute “Untitled” (2026), an otherworldly figure built from stones sourced in Japan, cast in aluminum, and painted. The work draws on an ancient myth that understands natural elements as inhabited by spirits.
American sculptor Liz Larner (b. 1960), known for mirrored stainless-steel works that return viewers to themselves in fractured reflections, will install “6” (2010–11). The piece extends her long-running exploration of the “X” motif, with two multicolored cubic forms interlacing.
Mark Grotjahn (b. 1968) will unveil an untitled bronze cast derived from one of his mask works — originally assembled from discarded cardboard and described as resembling an anthropological artifact. The artist gifted the work to the museum in honor of the Hirshhorn’s 50th anniversary.
Two additional acquisitions bring distinct material histories into the garden. Chatchai Puipia (b. 1964) will show “Wish You Were Here” (2008), a monumental bronze based on the artist’s lower body, legs crossed, with the torso wrapped in traditional Pha Khao Ma cloth. The figure lies as if on its back, staging a charged encounter between modernity and long-held cultural forms.
Pedro Reyes (b. 1972) will install “Tonatiuh” (2023), carved from volcanic stone collected from the Popocatépetl stratovolcano in central Mexico. Named for the Mexican sun deity, the sculpture features a circular carving that sets a precise geometry against the stone’s irregular edges, evoking the movement of 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,” Hirshhorn director Melissa Chiu said in a statement.
With the October reopening, the Hirshhorn’s garden will re-enter public life not simply refreshed, but recalibrated — pairing modernist anchors with a new set of 21st-century voices, materials, and civic-scale ambitions.
