Kennedy Center removes Joel Shapiro's "Blue" sculpture
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The Kennedy Center dismantled the blue stick-figure sculpture "Blue," created by Joel Shapiro, as part of ongoing changes at the venue.
The Kennedy Center began dismantling the blue stick-figure sculpture known as "Blue" on Wednesday. The work, designed by sculptor Joel Shapiro and installed in 2019, was taken down by a crane while staff in high-visibility vests oversaw the process.
The center said in an emailed statement that it was "deeply grateful to Joel Shapiro for the years Blue has spent animating our campus and connecting visitors to his vision" and expressed honor in having stewarded the piece.
"Art is what makes you think, and that's its role in life," said Michael Sebastiani of the advocacy group Hands off the Arts, adding that the sculpture had been a "very welcoming fixture" for visitors and served as a mascot for National Dance Day events at the REACH addition.
Shapiro, who described the piece in a past video as a celebration of "action and risk and performance and energy," died in 2025. The Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan Foundation may relocate the work elsewhere.