FIFA World Cup 2026 will bring more than just the games to the New York metropolitan area this summer. In fact, Art of the Game, a new public art project, will scatter as many as 23 monumental sculptures in the shape of soccer balls between the five boroughs of New York City and northern New Jersey, each signed by a different artist. Those featured in the initiative include Futura 2000, Katherine Bernhardt, Hank Willis Thomas, Eddie Martinez, Kevin Beasley, Bony Ramirez, Edgar Heap of Birds, and Fred Wilson. The artists were selected with input from the directors and curators of institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and El Museo del Barrio.
The works will be installed in parks, plazas, public transportation nodes and official areas dedicated to game viewing, transforming urban space into a large, widespread exhibition. The installations, the creation of which began in May, will be completed between June and July and will remain visible until Labor Day, Sept. 7. The project represents the latest philanthropic initiative spearheaded by historic patron Agnes Gund, who facilitated a collaboration between ARTS 14C, an organization that operates an 11,600-square-foot arts incubator in Jersey City, and some of the region’s leading cultural institutions, in partnership with the FIFA World Cup 2026 New York New Jersey Host Committee.
In terms of the construction of the works, each sculpture reproduces the classic geometry of a soccer ball through 32 aluminum composite panels — 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons — mounted on a stainless steel frame. The production was entrusted to Brooklyn-based Powerhouse Arts, while the assembly took place in the spaces of Mana Contemporary. Each artist interpreted the support according to his or her own visual language. Katherine Bernhardt, for example, painted directly on the surface using spray cans, while Tomokazu Matsuyama made images intended for UV printing. Nyugen Smith, winner of the open call associated with the project, on the other hand, integrated hand-finished multimedia elements.
A portion of the works will remain permanently in the exhibition venues, while five sculptures-those signed by Hank Willis Thomas, Katherine Bernhardt, Fred Wilson, Bony Ramirez, and Tomokazu Matsuyama-will be auctioned at Christie’s. Proceeds will be split equally between the artists, ARTS 14C and Studio in a School, the arts education organization founded by Agnes Gund. The remaining works will be sold through private negotiations to support ARTS 14C’s mission to make contemporary art more accessible to the public. “The FIFA World Cup is the greatest sharing moment on the planet, and that’s exactly where art belongs,” said Robinson Holloway, director of ARTS 14C.
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