“Reclining Liberty,” the iconic artwork gracing the front lawn of the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington for the past two years, is staying put.
Members of the county’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) on Sept. 17 voted 9-0 to allow the 25-foot work featuring the Statue of Liberty in repose to remain in front of the circa-1910 former school building at 3550 Wilson Blvd.
The work by artist Zaq Landsberg has been located there on a temporary basis since August 2023. Because the site is a local historic district, HALRB approval was required for the change from temporary to permanent.
Although allowing the statue to remain technically violates guidelines of the historic district, the county’s historic-preservation staff supported the request since the work is not physically connected to the building and could be removed at a later date.
Catherine Anchin, the museum’s executive director, said the piece has become beloved during its two years in Arlington.
“We’ve seen immense community interaction with it,” she told HALRB members. “Every day, somebody is stopping and taking photos with it or of it. We’ve just been very pleased with how the community has embraced it.”
The piece also has drawn visitors from across the region and from out of state, museum officials said.
Andrew Wenchel, Jr., a member of HALRB who serves on its Design Review Committee, said he felt it was appropriate to keep the piece in place permanently.
On a more personal basis, “I’ve always liked it,” Wenchel said.
“Reclining Liberty” lowered by crane onto the front lawn of Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington in August 2023 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
The Ashton Heights Civic Association said it had no objection to the artwork remaining in place permanently, so long as it was well-maintained. Proper maintenance was made a condition of the HALRB’s approval motion.
Before coming to Arlington, Reclining Liberty had been installed in Manhattan’s Morningside Park and then at New Jersey’s Liberty State Park, where ferries to the Statue of Liberty depart.
The building that plays host to the structure opened as the Clarendon School in 1910, serving students in first through sixth grade. It was the Clarendon community’s lone public elementary school for the ensuing 63 years, and 1944 was renamed to honor naval officer, diplomat and Virginia native Matthew Fontaine Maury.
In 1977, it became home to the Arlington Arts Center, which evolved into the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington. The arts organization leases the building from the county government.
The site was named a local historic district in 1984, and in 1999 was named to the National Register of Historic Places.