Archives for East City Art Editorial Team

On May 21, 2019, East City Art reported that The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) designated the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden as a threatened and at-risk landscape as part of its Landslide program.  A proposed redesign by the Smithsonian would eradicate the work of landscape architect Lester Collins. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and opened in 1974. Following negative reviews (the New York Times described the Bunshaft-designed sculpture garden as “a gravel pit”), the Smithsonian engaged landscape architect Lester Collins to redesign the garden in 1977; the Collins design, which was done within the framework of the Bunshaft original, opened in 1981.

The Phillips Collection announces its centennial year celebration in 2021. America’s first museum of modern art, founded in 1921, will feature Seeing Differently: The Phillips Collects for a New Century, a special exhibition drawn from its growing permanent collection of 4,700 works, a juried invitational for artists of the DMV, as well as a rich array of exhibitions by renowned artists, including Jacob Lawrence, David Driskell, Alma Thomas, Marley Dawson, and Sanford Biggers. The 100th year celebration will encompass engaging programs and new initiatives in partnership with local artists and the museum’s many community partners, including THEARC and the University of Maryland. The centennial year will represent 100 years of the Phillips as a welcoming space for community and dynamic innovation, and invites dedicated patrons and first-timers alike to join the museum for the next 100 years of experimentation and impact through art.