Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden prepares to reopen after a four-year redesign
The October 31 reopening adds nearly 60 sculptures, almost 30,000 plants and trees, five entrances and a restored underground connection to the museum.
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The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden is scheduled to reopen on Saturday, October 31, after a four-year transformation of its 1.3-acre site. The project is the largest update to the museum's campus since it opened in 1974. The redesigned garden will present nearly 60 sculptures — almost double the previous number — and add close to 30,000 plants and trees.
Artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto's redesign reconnects the garden more clearly to the National Mall, restores a long-closed underground passage between the garden and museum plaza, and increases the number of entrances from two to five. A new central gallery and reflecting pool are designed to support education, performances, seating and public programs.
The opening weekend begins with Yoshitomo Nara: Sentinels of Stillness, a presentation of three monumental works on the West Lawn that is scheduled to run through November 7, 2027. The reopening is a major change to one of the Smithsonian's most visible outdoor art spaces, but the image accompanying this story is an architectural rendering, not a photograph of the finished landscape.