The National Gallery of Art (NGA) Sculpture Garden is a gift to the nation by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and is located in the 6-acre block adjacent to the National Gallery of Art’s West Building.

This location is an enjoyable place to sketch interesting contemporary sculpture framed by garden “rooms” and the National Archives just across the street. The Sculpture Garden includes plantings of native American species of canopy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, ground covers, and perennials. The centerpiece is a fountain, which serves as an ice rink in winter. There is plenty of seating to enjoy sketching and reflect on the works on view.

The Pavilion Café offers year-round café service, along with indoor seating and bathroom access.

This location is accessible by Metrorail (Archives/Navy Memorial station -Yellow/Green lines) and Metrobus (Archives stop). Metered street parking is available around The Mall. Give yourself extra time as parking is scarce.

We will meet up at the 7th and Constitution Streets Entrance, tour the site, do some warm up and sketching exercises with your sketching kit (included in the cost of the tour) and then 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 on location and next steps you can take to keep sketching.

**IN CASE OF RAIN***

Plan B: We will meet at the National Gallery of Art’s East Building Main Entrance and sketch contemporary sculpture, architecture and plants inside the building. 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 NGA Sculpture Garden? Visit the NGA web site.