The former chair of the Kennedy Center, who was ousted from the institution’s board by President Donald Trump last year, has reportedly purchased a beloved blue sculpture that was removed from the venue’s grounds last week. Billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein has purchased Joel Shapiro’s towering stick-figure sculpture Blue from the foundation dedicated to the artist, according to The New York Times. The 24-foot-tall sculpture, which was abruptly dismantled and removed from the grounds of the Trump-dominated Kennedy Center last week, is reportedly set to be installed at the Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery of Art.
Last year, Trump fired Rubenstein, a major arts donor and co-founder of private equity firm The Carlyle Group, only to install himself as the Kennedy Center’s “amazing” new board chairman. Trump said he removed Rubenstein from the position because he did not share the president’s “Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. The president also appointed loyalists to fill out the board in a bid to rename the venue after himself and close the building for renovations as he speeds through multi-million construction projects throughout Washington, D.C.
The Independent has requested comment from a representative for Rubenstein and the National Gallery of Art. Shapiro’s site-specific Blue sculpture, installed in 2019, depicts an electric blue stick figure in mid-kick in a “celebration of possibility,” according to the artist. The Kennedy Center made no advance announcement of the removal plans.
The National Park Service only posted a street closure notice earlier last week indicating that a teardown project was set to begin before dawn and be completed by 1 p.m. Workers began removing the piece before sunrise. According to the Kennedy Center, the artwork was removed at the request of the Kennedy Center and the Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan Foundation.
A representative for the foundation declined to comment to The Independent at the time. Advocacy group Hands Off the Arts, which has campaigned against Trump-led changes to the institution, told fans of the piece to “say your final goodbyes.” “Wednesday, September 2, 2026 will forever be known as the day the United States government tore down a piece of public art at the behest of a petulant crybaby,” the group wrote on Instagram. Last month, the board voted to install Trump’s name on the building’s white marble facade — again — despite court orders that have prevented the president from making any attempt to rename the landmark after himself.
Under a resolution approved by the board, the words “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” will appear under President John F. Kennedy’s name, and the phrase “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund” will also be added once an endowment — also in Trump’s name — reaches $100 million.
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