Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
$28 Million raised
Fostering Contemporary Art and Innovation
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is dedicated to the art and artists of our time. As one of the top three most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the nation, the Hirshhorn is a national force for fostering contemporary works of art and exhibiting the leading innovators of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Through the Smithsonian Campaign, the Hirshhorn received a $2 million gift from trustee Joleen Julis and her husband, Mitch—its largest-ever gift from an individual. The museum also received $2 million from the Sidney E. Frank Foundation. Both gifts established the Future Fund, an initiative that includes redesigning the museum’s public spaces into more engaging environments. In 2017, the museum announced a collaboration with artist Hiroshi Sugimoto that will reimagine the Hirshhorn lobby as an immersive, functional artwork, opening in February 2018.
The Hirshhorn’s acclaimed collections and programs allow artists and audiences to engage with thought-provoking and pressing issues of our time, made possible by donors at all levels. In 2017 alone the museum gained more than 10,000 new members, thanks to the exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors, resulting in $1 million in unrestricted support for the museum's programs and operations.
New scholarship was also fueled by gifts to the campaign, as the museum welcomed Dr. Mark Beasley as its first Robert and Arlene Kogod Secretarial Scholar and Curator of Media and Performance Art.
Leadership Message
Creativity and innovation have never been more central to a successful society than in these early years of the 21st century. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden focuses on presenting art and ideas that are ahead of their time, thought-provoking and compelling.
Our dedication to today’s art and artists means being willing to take risks, follow new artists into different territory and encourage artists and visitors to see the world from other perspectives. Commissioning artists to create new works that engage with current social, political and aesthetic issues is a hallmark of the Hirshhorn’s exhibitions, educational
programs and collecting efforts.
Our modern and contemporary art collections are among the finest in the country, with substantial works by Willem de Kooning, Alexander Calder and Ellsworth Kelly. In recent years, our focus has turned toward new technology with major acquisitions in video art, such as Doug Aitken’s SONG 1, which premiered with a projection across the Hirshhorn’s
exterior façade.
As the museum celebrates its 40th anniversary, we are poised to lead the international conversation about contemporary art and culture. Through your support, we can build a rich, creative space where new ideas surface with the potential to influence society far beyond the museum’s walls. I invite you to join us as we expand and broaden the impact and influence of art in our global society.
- Melissa ChiuDirector, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
A Museum for Our Time and the Future
Since the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden opened in 1974, it has remained committed to its founder’s guiding principle of focusing on the contemporary moment. Joseph Hirshhorn’s gift of an endowment and nearly 12,000 works of art created an enduring legacyand our collections continue to grow. Your support of the Smithsonian Campaign will play a vital role in transforming emerging artists of today into the icons of tomorrow.
Groundbreaking Exhibitions
A priority is the establishment of an endowment that will provide the resources to maintain the vitality of the museum’s exhibition program for years to come. We will build on our forward-thinking reputation to explore and re-examine modern and contemporary culture through research and transformative exhibitions and artists' projects.
Gifts to our Directions series and Black Box Gallery, which presents the best in contemporary film and video, will support the museum in presenting the strongest new work by young artists from around the globe.
Collecting and Conserving
At the core of the Hirshhorn is its collection — works in all media and one of the world’s most comprehensive modern sculpture collections. Critical to our growth are the expertise and facilities to preserve these irreplaceable works for the future.
We will create an onsite Center for Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art. Gifts to endow our active conservation fellowship program will enrich the museum’s understanding of how to care for its holdings and provide invaluable experience to scholars.
Art +Artists + Audience + Ideas
Public programs are an equal partner to our exhibitions. We will use new technologies integral to 21st-century learning to provide unprecedented levels of interconnectivity and access to our visitors and growing global community. Gifts for major programs like ARTLAB+ and digital initiatives are an investment in the future of arts education that reaches people everywhere.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
is raising $26 million of the Smithsonian Campaign’s overall $1.5 billion goal.
Campaign Priorities
Exhibitions and Artists' Projects
$10 Million
We seek investments of $10 million to endow an exhibition and research fund. A gift of $2 million will fund the Directions series and $1 million will support the Black Box Gallery and program.
Conservation for Today and Beyond
$2 Million
The campaign will fund creation of the Center for Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art, an international resource that builds on our acclaimed technical analyses of modern artists' materials. Gift opportunities include $2 million with naming recognition to fund the center and $1 million to endow a fellowship program, which includes an artist interview program to preserve source information about irreplaceable works
Advancing Education, Connectivity and Outreach
$5 Million
Investments of $5 million will enable us to bring artists and audiences together through major educational initiatives and will allow us to transform our public spaces. A gift of $2 million with naming recognition will support ARTLAB+, a digital and media arts program for teens from underserved communities. We seek $3 million to fund technological improvements that will improve access to the Hirshhorn and expand our reach.
VIEW STORY
CloseAndrew Beyer and Susan Vallon
Giving to Future Generations
Andrew Beyer and Susan Vallon share a passion for contemporary art. Susan has a lifelong interest in art and design; she operates an interior design business. Andy was inspired to collect by one painting at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. He fell in love with the work of artist H.N. Han, met the artist and purchased one of his paintings. The couple’s bequest will establish an endowment at the Hirshhorn to support the acquisition of new art, as well as an array of cultural programs. “The Hirshhorn is filled with surprises,” Susan says. “We are glad to give to future generations to enjoy its beauty.”