Spirit Figures and Sonic Echoes Recast The Met’s Grand Stage

Next year, The Met’s iconic Fifth Avenue façade will become home to four striking “ancestral spirit figures” crafted by Jeffrey Gibson, a contemporary artist with Choctaw and Cherokee roots. Gibson’s sculptures promise a vivid blend of Indigenous motifs and bold, modern abstraction, channeling cultural memory into public art from September 2025 to May 2026. Meanwhile, the museum’s rooftop will pulse with the minimalist energy of Jennie C. Jones, whose installation explores the visual and acoustic power of stringed instruments. Jones’s work draws on jazz’s improvisational spirit, inviting visitors to consider how sound and silence shape our experience of space and history. Though their styles diverge, both artists use form and beauty as vessels for deep cultural narratives—reminding us that art’s surface often conceals layers of ancestral resonance and untold stories. At The Met, even stone and steel can hum with memory. #JeffreyGibson #IndigenousArt #MetMuseum #Culture