Wish Tree for Washington DC

“Artists are going to be the metronome of this society” – Yoko Ono

Wish Tree is currently open as an interactive artwork through the end of the summer. Visitors are encouraged to participate any time the sculpture garden is open.

Every summer through Labor Day, visitors are invited to the sculpture garden to tie their written wishes to the branches of Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Washington, DC. 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 over the past fifteen years.

The 2022 activation of Wish Tree has been ushered in by artist Mariko Mori, who tied the first with of the season on April 27.

In 2021, with permission from the artist, the Hirshhorn presented Wish Tree as a virtual activation on Instagram for the first time. Using #WishTree, the initiative was led by artists including musician J Balvin and visual artists Hiroshi Sugimoto, Michelle Stuart, Ugo Rondinone, and Ken Lum. Explore our archive of virtual wishes.

In 2017, the Hirshhorn presented Yoko Ono: Four Works for Washington and the World, a celebration of the tenth anniversary of Ono’s Wish Tree, featuring Ono’s participatory My Mommy Is Beautiful and her Sky TV for Washington, DC. The anniversary culminated in a concert dedicated to the artist’s pioneering performance work, including Kim Gordon.

Listen to Yoko Ono on the Wish Tree

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