Joel Shapiro Would Have Been ‘Alarmed’ by Removal of Sculpture from Kennedy Center, Family Says

A monumental Joel Shapiro sculpture is being removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as Donald Trump moves to take control of the space.

The sculpture, titled Blue, is one of many works by Shapiro to depict the human form using the spare language of Minimalism. In an Art in America profile of Shapiro published around the time of the artist’s death last year, Max Norman wrote that the artist’s figures appear “gracefully frozen in a gravitational in-between that tickles your brain and tightens your stomach.”

Of Blue, Shapiro previously said, “It’s about action and risk and performance and energy. It’s a celebration of possibility.” The sculpture was previously located on the REACH, an addition whose name is an acronym that stands for Renew, Experience, Activate, Create, and Honor. Opened in 2019, the REACH also features monumental sculptures by Deborah Butterfield and Roy Lichtenstein, as well as a large statue of John F. Kennedy, the center’s namesake.

Sculpted from metal, Blue was installed in 2019 and typically rises 24 feet in the air. Yet now its limbs are being pulled apart, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, for reasons that remain unclear. The Kennedy Center did not provide the Times with an explanation for why the sculpture was being removed.

Ivy Shapiro, the artist’s daughter, told the Times that her father would have been “alarmed” by the removal, adding, “In Joel’s mind, it was one of his greatest site-specific commissions, which celebrated joy, freedom and creativity.”

The removal came as the Trump administration seeks to consolidate its control over the Kennedy Center, whose name has been the matter of some contention. Trump has sought to have the center feature his own name on its facade, even after a federal judge disallowed him from using his authority to ensure that this would happen.

While much of the tussle over Trump’s attempts to control the Kennedy Center has been fielded behind the scenes, some have treated the removal of Blue as a sign that the takeover is now becoming more visible.

“First they came for the façade, now they come for the grounds,” wrote Hands Off the Arts, a group of activists who have focused on maintaining the Kennedy Center’s programming and structure.