‘Blue’ Removed From Kennedy Center Lot

It was a blue day for the Kennedy Center as it took a sculpture known as Blue Wednesday.

The removal was the latest change to the cultural and performing arts center.

The sculpture, a tall, blue stick figure poised in action, was designed by sculptor Joel Shapiro and installed in 2019.

This removal was the latest in the saga with the Kennedy Center, where the board is fighting in court for the right put President Donald Trump’s name on the building.

This is part of a broader effort to reshape Washington to Trump’s liking,. This includes replacing the White House’s East Wing with a ballroom, a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and a renovated golf course.

Shapiro described Blue in a video posted to the Kennedy Center’s YouTube years ago as being “about action and risk and performance and energy. It’s a celebration of possibility.”

Shapiro died in 2025.

Blue may be reinstalled elsewhere through the Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan Foundation.

“We are deeply grateful to Joel Shapiro for the years Blue has spent animating our campus and connecting visitors to his vision,” the Kennedy Center said in an emailed statement. “We are honored to have been stewards of his vibrant work and a part of his enduring legacy.”

Michael Sebastiani stood nearby as Blue was disassembled or, as he put it, “dismembered.”

Sebastiani is part of the group Hands Off the Arts, which was formed to push back against the Trump administration’s changes to the Kennedy Center.

“Art is what makes you think, and that’s its role in life,” he said, saying the sculpture was “a very welcoming fixture, if you will, for folks coming into the city, and we’re just really sad to see her gone.”