Kennedy Center's "Blue" comes down. Send it to Des Moines
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Joel Shapiro's "Blue" at the Kennedy Center after a snowfall last year. Photo: Craig Hudson for the Washington Post via Getty Images
"Blue," a 24-foot sculpture by the late Joel Shapiro, began coming down from the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
Driving the news: Internal Kennedy Center documents obtained by the New York Times showed that officials planned to remove "Blue" after President Trump became chair of the Kennedy Center, though the documents did not establish a reason for the removal.
- Depicting a stick figure caught in motion, it was installed in 2019 as a permanent sculpture.
Context: Shapiro supported Barack Obama, but there's no evidence his politics played a role in the removal of "Blue."
- Trump has also criticized the Reach, a $250 million Kennedy Center expansion where the sculpture was installed.
State of play: Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan Foundation president Ivy Shapiro said her father would have been "alarmed" by the removal.
- The foundation now owns "Blue" and will decide where it goes next.
Stunning stat: Shapiro's auction record is reported at $701,000.
💙 Our thought bubble: Des Moines deserves "Blue."
- We already have two of the artist's outdoor sculptures and three of his works inside the DSM Art Center — we might as well become a Shapiro sanctuary.