Washington is about to feel a little grander. On October 23, the National Museum of Women in the Arts opens Beverly Pepper: Land Art and Monumental Sculptures, a joyful celebration of an artist who spent more than 70 years turning iron, steel and earth into poetry. The exhibition runs through April 25, 2027, at the museum on New York Avenue NW.
Beverly Pepper (1922-2020) worked hands-on with materials long associated with monumental, outdoor art, and she made them entirely her own. Inside the galleries, visitors will find gallery-scaled sculptures from NMWA’s own collection, fascinating maquettes – the small models behind her giant works – and a new film about her monumental projects around the world. It is a rare chance to see both the intimate beginnings and the soaring results of a single, fearless imagination.
The happiest surprise waits right outside. The gallery show complements Beverly Pepper: Ten Monumental Sculptures, an expansive outdoor installation along New York Avenue, directly in front of the museum, on view through June 2027. There, works such as Broken Circle and Todi Columns rise against the downtown skyline, inviting a free, open-air art walk before or after your museum visit.
Both presentations are part of the beloved New York Avenue Sculpture Corridor, created by NMWA and the DowntownDC Business Improvement District in 2010 to bring distinguished public art to the heart of the city. Come for the stroll, stay for the wonder – and let Pepper remind you how sculpture and landscape belong together.
Photo: Jason Dixson Photography, courtesy DowntownDC BID and the National Museum of Women in the Arts
