With more than sixty works of art displayed year-round, the Hirshhorn Museum’s Sculpture Garden offers visitors a contemplative haven in the heart of our nation’s capital. Dating from the 1880s through the present, the sculptures on display differ in subject, style, and material. If you are a lover of modern and contemporary sculpture or just curious about it, this is a great opportunity to learn more about this art by looking and sketching.

This location is accessible by Metrorail at L’Enfant Plaza station, 7th and Maryland Ave SW exit (Blue/Orange/Silver, Yellow/Green lines) and Metrobus – 16C, 30N, 30S,34, 36, 39, 74 (7th and Independence stop ). Metered street parking is available around the Mall area but is extremely scarce. Give yourself extra time to find parking.

We will meet up at the main museum entrance on Independence Avenue, tour the gardens around the main museum and walk over to the main sculpture garden. Next we will do some warm up and sketching exercises with your sketching kit (included in the cost of the tour) and then you can enjoy open sketching time of whatever catches your interest. We will then wrap up by sharing our sketches and discussing the fun and challenges of making art at this location and next steps you can take to keep sketching.

Notes:

You will need to walk up and down stairs to access the main sculpture garden or you may use the ramp entrance on the Mall side to the sculpture garden.
Bathrooms are inside the museum on the lower level. You will need to go through a security checkpoint to access the museum.
The museum has Dolcezza café  (gelato, beverages and sweet treats) in the atrium of the museum.

 

**IN CASE OF RAIN***

Plan B: Hirshhorn Museum – interior

We will meet at the Hirshhorn Museum Main Entrance on Independence Ave and sketch contemporary sculpture, architecture and plants inside the building. Because of the nature of the round building, there are plenty of sheltered spaces outside in the courtyard that will allow you access to sketch outdoors without getting wet. You will be notified the day before by email if we need to do this.

Fine Print

By purchasing a ticket and participating in the Sketching in the City tour you agree to our Waiver of Liability and Hold Harmless Statement.

Got more questions about Sketching in the City? Check out the FAQs on the Sketching in the City web site.

Want to learn more about the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden? Visit the Hirshhorn web site.