Hirshhorn's Launches '50 for 50' Initiative to Send 200+ Artworks Across America

The program will loan important American artworks from the Hirshhorn collection for three- to five-year periods to one museum in each U.S. state and Puerto Rico between 2026 and 2029. The program is the largest and most geographically extensive loan effort ever undertaken by an American museum, and it is free to participating organizations. The initiative supports the Hirshhorn’s and Art Bridges’ shared interest in expanding public access to significant works of American art spanning from the 19th century to the present day and from Modernism to contemporary art.

Institutions were selected following a review that identified meaningful gaps and connections in each institution’s collection. While several of the chosen museums serve major metropolitan areas—including; Oakland, California; and Queens, New York—most partners are in smaller communities. Thirty percent of the institutions serve populations of 150,000 or fewer, including Shelburne, Vermont; Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; and Big Horn, Wyoming (population 500). Twenty percent are affiliated with a university or college.

“We realize that not everyone can visit our museum in the nation’s capital” Director Melissa Chiu said. “‘50 for 50’ will place masterworks from our collection of modern and contemporary art, which would otherwise be in storage, inside communities across the country. Our museum partners know what will spark interest so they will make the selections themselves.

“Art Bridges exists to connect significant American art with communities that rarely see it firsthand,” said Anne Kraybill, CEO of Art Bridges Foundation. “For ‘50 for 50,’ each of these 51 museums chose works that connect with their own collections and audiences—a loan in Tacoma looks nothing like one in Savannah. Getting that match right is what makes a Hirshhorn loan meaningful to the people who live there.”

Participating institutions:

Alabama—Huntsville Museum of Art
Alaska—Anchorage Museum
Arizona—Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block
Arkansas—Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock
California—Oakland Museum of California
Colorado—Clyfford Still Museum, Denver
Connecticut—Bruce Museum, Greenwich
Delaware—Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington
Florida—Tampa Museum of Art
Georgia—Telfair Museums, Savannah
Hawaii—Honolulu Museum of Art
Idaho—Boise Art Museum
Illinois—Peoria Riverfront Museum
Indiana—Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Bloomington
Iowa—Des Moines Art Center
Kansas—Wichita Art Museum
Kentucky—Owensboro Museum of Fine Art
Louisiana—LSU Museum of Art, Baton Rouge
Maine—Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick
Maryland—Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown
Massachusetts—Peabody Essex Museum, Salem
Michigan—Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Minnesota—Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul
Mississippi—Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson
Missouri—Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis
Montana—Montana Museum of Art & Culture, Missoula
Nebraska—Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha
Nevada—Las Vegas Museum of Art
New Hampshire—Currier Museum of Art, Manchester
New Jersey—Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick
New Mexico—Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe
New York—Queens Museum
North Carolina—Ackland Art Museum
North Dakota—Plains Art Museum, Fargo
Ohio—Akron Art Museum
Oklahoma—Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Oregon—Portland Art Museum
Pennsylvania—Brandywine Museum of Art, Chadds Ford
Puerto Rico—Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan
Rhode Island—Westerly Museum of American Impressionism, Westerly
South Carolina—Columbia Museum of Art
South Dakota—South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings
Tennessee—Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Texas—Blanton Museum of Art, Austin
Utah—Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City
Vermont—Shelburne Museum
Virginia—Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach
Washington—Tacoma Art Museum
West Virginia—Huntington Museum of Art
Wisconsin—Chazen Museum of Art, Madison
Wyoming—Brinton Museum, Big Horn

More than 200 artworks (currently in storage) from the Hirshhorn’s collection of more than 13,000 paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs have been requested. Among the artists with work available for “50 for 50” loans: Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Eakins, Arthur Jafa, Alex Katz, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Georgia O’Keeffe, Yoko Ono, Christian Marclay, Christina Quarles, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol and others. The first group of loans is expected to be placed by December 2026.

Main Image: Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden