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Eight permanent sculptures created by local artist Foon Sham punctuate two blocks of 19th Street between K and M Streets, inviting locals and visitors to enjoy museum-quality art in the streets of downtown Washington. The sculptures are part of our 19th Street Rain Gardens, a model green infrastructure project that contributed to the Golden Triangle’s LEED Platinum for Communities certification.
Symbolizing the function of the rain gardens to collect, hold, and filter stormwater, the sculptures amplify the beauty of the green street. The artworks are stitched together from small wooden blocks and rise to heights of nine to 13 feet tall. The works are geometric and precise and evoke the movement of water with curved forms echoing rivers and streams.
The four sculptures located at the intersection of 19th and L Streets – Droplet, Vascular Form #10, Turning Point, and Ductile – were installed in 2015.
Four additional sculptures – Swing I, Meander I, Swing II, and Meander II – were added at the north sides of 19th and K Streets and the south sides of 19th and M Streets in 2020. The initiative was awarded a Public Art Building Communities Grant from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities with matching funds from the Golden Triangle BID and additional support from Share Fund.
The 19th Street Rain Gardens sculptures are part of the BID’s longstanding effort to make public spaces more beautiful, sustainable, and culturally rich.
