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Kennedy Center will remove outdoor 'Blue' sculpture

artSep 2, 2026553,819

The Kennedy Center dismantled Joel Shapiro’s 24-foot blue aluminum sculpture Blue on Wednesday morning without prior public notice. Installed on the center’s grounds in 2019, the abstract, stick-figure work was described as celebrating “action, risk, performance and energy.” Internal documents obtained by The New York Times show the sculpture was marked for elimination shortly after President Trump’s takeover of the center last year, and the center characterized the unannounced removal as “common practice.” The late sculptor Joel Shapiro died in 2025; his daughter told reporters he would have been “alarmed,” saying the Kennedy Center site was its intended location and one of his greatest site-specific commissions. Critics and arts observers say the removal fits a broader effort by a Trump-appointed board to reshape the institution’s identity and has intensified scrutiny over federal arts stewardship.

Forbes
@forbes.com

The Kennedy Center began removing “Blue,” a sculpture on its grounds, on Wednesday morning with no prior announcement.

159145d ago
Mrs. Betty Bowers
@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social

The blue sculpture at the Kennedy Center is coming down because it’s not literal or cheesy enough for Donald to get. If it were a Thomas Kinkade of Mickey & Minnie Mouse rowing an adorable boat past Cinderella’s castle festooned with lilacs, it would have stayed—if not stolen for the White House.

51745d ago
PoPville
@popville.bsky.social

“Big blue statue is being removed from the Kennedy Center!” – “Temporary Closures of Certain Parkland and Public Use Limitations, Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway” - Protect the Blue Rooster at all costs!! www.popville.com/2026/09/big-...

4145d ago
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