Now through April 30, Wish Tree for Washington, DC is open for your participation, no matter where you are. With permission from the artist, instead of tying written wishes to the tree’s branches, you are invited to share your thoughts virtually using the hashtag #WishTreeDC. Your wishes will join the wishes and hopes for the future of people around the world to bloom on social media for all to connect with.
Wishes
About Wish Tree
One year after the Hirshhorn temporarily closed its building in response to COVID-19, this virtual exercise in community will connect audiences around the world and spread the joy of the artwork’s collaborative nature. While the sculpture garden is currently open, Wish Tree is only open virtually and will not be available for in-person wish-writing.Since 2007, the Hirshhorn has opened Wish Tree as an interactive on-site installation every summer through Labor Day, inviting visitors into the sculpture garden to tie their written wishes to the tree’s branches.
For most of the year, visitors may whisper their wishes to its branches, but during warmer months, the tree ‘blooms’ with thousands of paper tags, an archive of the hopes and ambitions of visitors from around the world. Hirshhorn staff ‘harvest’ the wishes throughout the summer, and send them to join more than 1 million others at Ono’s “Imagine Peace Tower” in Reykjavik, Iceland as part of her global art installation.
A gift from the artist in 2007, the Hirshhorn’s tree has collected more than 100,000 wishes in the past decade.An unprecedented year calls for revamped traditions. While the Hirshhorn has opened Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Washington, DC, as an interactive on-site installation every summer since 2007, this year will be different. Now through April 30, Wish Tree will be open for your participation, no matter where you are. Instead of tying written wishes to the tree’s branches, you are invited to share your thoughts virtually, with permission from the artist. Your wishes will join the hopes and ambitions of people around the world to bloom on social media for all to connect with.
RELATED LINKS
1. WRITE YOUR WISH
Grab a pen and a piece of paper and write down your hopes and dreams. Get inspired. Listen to Yoko Ono discuss Wish Tree. Doing this with kids? They can draw a picture instead!
2. TAKE A PHOTO
Find the right light and take a photo of your handwritten wish. Or take a selfie with it, if that’s your thing!
3. SHARE WITH THE WORLD
Post the photo of your wish on Instagram. Be sure to include the hashtag #WishTreeDC and tag @hirshhorn to be counted among the wishes. Type your wish into the caption to make your wish available to people who use screen readers.
4. TELL A FRIEND
This exercise is about community and connection. Invite those you love to take part in it too.
