The Kennedy Center took down Wednesday a sculpture known as Blue, the latest change to the cultural and performing arts center that stirred some pushback in President Donald Trump's second term.
The sculpture, a tall, blue stick figure poised in action — as if to kick a ball or, from a different angle, having just kicked one — was designed by sculptor Joel Shapiro and installed in 2019.
The removal follows a longer-running saga with the Kennedy Center, where the Trump-aligned board is fighting in court for the right to plaster the president's name on the historic institution. It falls within a broader effort to reshape Washington to Trump's liking, including demolishing the White House's East Wing to build a ballroom, a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and a renovated golf course.
Shapiro, known for breathing life into otherwise minimalist stick figures, described Blue in a video posted to the Kennedy Center’s YouTube years ago as being “about action and risk and performance and energy. It’s a celebration of possibility.”
Shapiro died in 2025, and Blue will no longer celebrate possibility at the Kennedy Center, though it may be reinstalled elsewhere through the Joel Shapiro and Ellen Phelan Foundation.
A crane could be seen Wednesday taking down the sculpture’s appendages, with the arms and legs wrapped protectively, as people in hi-vis vests worked around it in the sun.
“We are deeply grateful to Joel Shapiro for the years Blue has spent animating our campus and connecting visitors to his vision,” the Kennedy Center said in an emailed statement. “We are honored to have been stewards of his vibrant work and a part of his enduring legacy.”
Michael Sebastiani stood nearby as Blue was disassembled or, as he put it, “dismembered.” Sebastiani is part of the group Hands Off the Arts, partly formed to push back against the Trump administration's changes to the Kennedy Center.
“Art is what makes you think, and that’s its role in life,” he said, saying the sculpture was “a very welcoming fixture, if you will, for folks coming into the city, and we’re just really sad to see her gone.”
Sebastiani said Blue was the mascot for National Dance Day on Sept. 19, with events held near it on a 2019 addition to the Kennedy Center campus called The REACH. Blue, said Sebastiani, “brings the joy and happiness that is part of that celebration.”
Workers remove the sculpture "Blue" by artist Joel Shapiro on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Workers remove the sculpture "Blue" by artist Joel Shapiro on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Workers remove the sculpture "Blue" by artist Joel Shapiro on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
NEW YORK (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka came to the U.S. Open struggling and in danger of losing the No. 1 ranking.
She heads to the third round looking every bit ready for a three-peat.
The top-seeded Sabalenka overwhelmed Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes on Wednesday night, putting on a power-hitting display that made it seem her recent problems are in the past.
“Happy with the level I played today, happy with the focus and happy to be through this match,” Sabalenka said.
A number of players have only finished one match.
Another rainy afternoon in New York suspended play for a time on outside courts, allowing action only under the roofs in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium to continue uninterrupted. So the players scheduled there avoided the starts and stops that others faced.
Carlos Alcaraz was one, following Sabalenka with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Jaime Faria. The defending champion rebounded after dropping a set, which he didn't do until last year's final, by winning the next eight games to seize control.
Jessica Pegula needed only 56 minutes to defeat Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-1. Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, beat Venus Williams in her first match.
“To be out of there in under an hour, it doesn’t always happen,” Pegula said. “So I think I’m just going to take that one and run, I guess, until the next round.”
No. 8 seed Ben Shelton followed Pegula on Ashe and beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5, while No. 7 Daniil Medvedev raced past Sebastian Gorzny — except for a brief delay to protest the chair umpire’s decision to replay a point when two birds sat on the net — 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
Sabalenka is trying to become the first player to win three in a row in Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams from 2012-14, but arrived after losing in the fourth round of her past three tournaments. She needs help to stay atop the WTA rankings even if she wins the title.
She won 15 of 16 points on first serve in the first set and only dropped off a little in the second, finishing 21 for 28 in the match, against an opponent who is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament.
“I think I struggled a little bit in the middle of the season. Once again, I’m not going to defend myself or explain why, what happened, but I’m happy with my level,” Sabalenka said. “I can definitely say that mentally I’m way stronger than I was in the middle of the season, and physically I also feel stronger. So I feel like I’m on my level of play.”
When the U.S. Open switched to a Sunday start last year, it spread out the first round over the first three days, so Wednesday would have arrived with everyone playing in the second round had the weather cooperated.
It didn't.
Alex de Minaur, the No. 6 seed from Australia, said with all the juggling his match was moved twice from the court where he was originally scheduled. He finally started his U.S. Open on Wednesday on Court 11 and beat Italy's Andrea Guerrieri 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
“It’s been a couple tough days. But I mean, these tournaments, it's all about adapting and that’s the name of the game,” de Minaur said. “There’s too much to play for to let something like this affect you.”
Paula Badosa said she didn't even know how to prepare for the resumption of her match against Daria Kasatkina, which was halted Tuesday with her one game from winning to set up a second-round match against No. 4 Coco Gauff.
“I didn’t know if I was going to play just two points or six, or I don’t know how much, how many I play or one more set,” the Spaniard said Wednesday after finishing off her 6-1, 6-4 victory.
“So I knew that if I was winning this match, I’m playing the next day. So, yeah, it was everything a bit different. I was very nervous that I even couldn’t eat, so a lot of different stuff I did today, but sometimes it is how it is, and I tried to play with the things I had there.”
At least she got through. No. 12 Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old from Spain who came in after a strong summer, was routed 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 by Bu Yunchaokete of China when his first-round match was finally completed.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy because I was waiting a lot yesterday and today as well, but it is what it is,” Jodar said. “We cannot control the rain, so it’s difficult for both players.”
The first round was finally completed late Wednesday, a day when 25 men’s singles matches were scheduled to get the tournament back on track.
Alex Michelsen pulled off an upset in one of them by ousting fellow American Brandon Nakashima, the No. 16 seed, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. No. 11 Frances Tiafoe beat Japanese qualifier Rei Sakamoto in straight sets, and Argentina's Mariano Navone backed up his upset of Novak Djokovic by beating Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova and runner-up Karolina Muchova advanced to the third round, while No. 11 Marta Kostyuk got past 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-1, 7-5. No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez set up a matchup of past U.S. Open runners-up against Pegula, with the winner to meet either No. 16 Sorana Cirstea or No. 19 Jasmine Paolini.
See AP’s full tennis coverage here
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Jaime Faria, of Portugal, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, serves to Polina Iatcenko, of Russia, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, serves to Polina Iatcenko, of Russia, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Jessica Pegula, of the United States, greets Sofia Kenin, of the United States, left, after Pegula won their match during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, returns the ball to Sebastian Gorzny, of the United States, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Spectators are reflected in a puddle at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the U.S. Open tennis championships Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Ben Shelton, of the United States, celebrates during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships against Hubert Hurkacz, of Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Jessica Pegula, of the United States, gestures after she won against Sofia Kenin, of the United States, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
