Hirshhorn loans bring contemporary art to 51 museums nationwide

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is moving from planning to local implementation on a national collection-sharing program that will send more than 200 modern and contemporary artworks to 51 museums—one in every U.S. state and Puerto Rico.

Called “50 for 50,” the initiative will provide free, three- to five-year loans between 2026 and 2029. The first group of loans is expected to be installed by December 2026, but each participating museum will set its own exhibition schedule and announce which works it receives.

LSU confirms Louisiana participation

The LSU Museum of Art announced July 14, 2026, that it had been selected as Louisiana’s participating institution. The Baton Rouge museum said it expects to receive significant American artworks from the Hirshhorn collection for exhibitions, education programs and public engagement.

LSU has not announced the specific works it will receive or a public opening date. Its announcement said additional details would be shared in the coming months, making the museum’s future exhibition calendar the clearest place for visitors to watch for updates.

How the loans will work

The participating museums selected works to address gaps in their collections or to connect with existing holdings and local audiences. Art Bridges Foundation is supporting the collection-sharing process, including the artwork-selection and partner-loan workflow.

The works are being drawn from the Hirshhorn’s collection of more than 13,000 paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs. More than 200 works currently in storage have been requested for the program, according to the Smithsonian and independent specialist reporting.

The available collection includes artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Eakins, Arthur Jafa, Alex Katz, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Georgia O’Keeffe, Yoko Ono, Christian Marclay, Christina Quarles, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol. The final assignment of individual works to museums had not been publicly disclosed in the core program materials reviewed for this article.

Large museums and smaller communities

The participating institutions include major metropolitan museums such as the Oakland Museum of California and Queens Museum, as well as museums serving smaller communities.

Examples include the Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming, and the Westerly Museum of American Impressionism in Rhode Island. Independent reporting identified Big Horn as a community of about 500 people and Westerly as a community of about 23,000.

The Smithsonian says 30% of participating institutions serve populations of 150,000 or fewer. Another 20% are affiliated with a college or university, including the LSU Museum of Art and museums connected to institutions such as the University of Texas and Indiana University.

What visitors should expect

The program is intended to give people outside Washington longer-term access to works from a national modern and contemporary art collection. Because the loans are expected to last three to five years, they are designed to provide sustained local access rather than a short touring exhibition.

The Hirshhorn and Art Bridges have described “50 for 50” as their largest and most geographically extensive loan effort by an American museum. That characterization comes from the organizations themselves; the practical impact will depend on each museum’s exhibition capacity, schedule and programming.

Visitors should check the calendar and announcements of participating museums for confirmed installation dates, exhibition titles, education programs and artwork details. The next major milestones are the release of specific loan assignments and the first installations expected by December 2026.

Sources

• Smithsonian Institution program announcement
• LSU Museum of Art participation announcement
• Art Bridges Foundation: Hirshhorn 50 for 50
• The Art Newspaper independent report