Kennedy Center Removes Joel Shapiro Sculpture Amid Trump-Led Renovations

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts removed a 24-foot tall sculpture titled "Blue," created by the late artist Joel Shapiro, on Sept. 2. The work, installed in 2019, was taken down at the request of the Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan Foundation, which will decide its next location. The Kennedy Center said the foundation declined to comment.

"We are deeply grateful to Joel Shapiro for the years Blue has spent animating our campus and connecting visitors to his vision," a Kennedy Center spokesperson told PEOPLE.

The removal follows a broader overhaul of the center overseen by President Donald Trump, who has placed allies on the institution’s board and in leadership positions. Earlier this year, a court order blocked an attempt to rename the venue after Trump, and the administration has threatened legal action to replace the building with a large outdoor amphitheater if its renovation proposals are halted.

Former Kennedy Center curator Josef Palermo, who was laid off in March, told The New York Times that the sculpture was "targeted early on" and called for greater transparency in the handling of artworks. In an earlier Atlantic article, Palermo wrote that acting director Ric Grenell allegedly instructed staff to remove existing pieces to make way for new art, though Grenell did not respond to the claim.

Shapiro had described "Blue" as "a celebration of possibility" in a video produced by the center at the time of its installation, noting that the piece was inspired by his Peace Corps service in India.