via Instagram/@yokoono, @hirshhornArt & Photography / NewsArt & Photography / NewsYoko Ono’s ‘Wish Tree’ heads online to share virtual messages of hopeJ Balvin, Eileen Myles, and more have contributed to the socially-distanced version of the artist’s 2007 artworkShareLink copied ✔️April 15, 2021April 15, 2021TextThom Waite Since Yoko Ono gifted her Wish Tree for Washington, DC to the city’s Hirshhorn Museum in 2007, visitors have written and tied over 100,000 wishes to the dogwood’s branches. This year, however, the interactive installation is moving online, allowing visitors to keep expressing their hopes for the future despite ongoing coronavirus restrictions. “Still, we can come together to share our hopes and dreams,” writes the gallery in an announcement posted to Instagram, adding that the artist gave her permission for the artwork’s social media debut. Typically, the Washington edition of Ono’s Wish Tree — part of a broader project with more than a million participants worldwide — “blooms” with thousands of paper tags over the course of the summer, which are “harvested” by staff and sent to Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland. In colder months, visitors are encouraged to whisper their wishes to its branches. Though Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden is currently open, Wish Tree will not be available for in-person wish-writing in 2021. Instead, the museum says, those wanting to take part can write their wish on a piece of paper, take a photo, and share it to Instagram with the hashtag #WishTreeDC, tagging @hirshhorn. At the end of summer, the wishes will be collected and archived as usual. Alongside those that have already shared their wishes via the virtual Wish Tree project are the reggaeton star J Balvin and poet Eileen Myles, alongside artists including Judith Bernstein, Tomás Saraceno, and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Amid New York City’s lockdowns last year, Yoko Ono also hung hopeful banners on the Met Museum, in a project titled DREAM TOGETHER (2020), sharing a message of comfort and solidarity for the city’s inhabitants. View some of the Hirshhorn Museum’s virtual Wish Tree messages below. Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MORE5 photo books by women interrogating ideas of beauty5 photographers redefining womanhood in the Middle EastSlava Mogutin’s photos explore desire, vulnerability, sex and powerDance, music and ‘fantasy realism’ from Dazed ClubbersThese atmospheric photos spotlight Finland’s cruising sceneDazed Club is taking over Selfridges for four nights of Club CultureThese photos from Ukraine capture the absurdity of life in wartimeMeet the curator and artists behind Resurgence: Craft ReimaginedArt shows to leave the house for in April 20268 new photo books for springtime5 of the most boundary-pushing artists at Art Basel Hong KongThe most loved photo stories of March 2026Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy