An America250 IndyCar Race Will Pass By DC’s Museums. Could the Vibrations Damage Artworks?

Since Donald Trump assumed office again, Washington, D.C., has seen new gold-plated statues and UFC fights on the White House lawn. Up next: an IndyCar race involving high-performance machines whizzing around the capital at speeds up to 185 miles per hour from August 22-23.

One part of a series of celebrations of the semiquincentennial, the IndyCar race will send those vehicles racing by cultural and historical institutions, including the National Gallery of Art, the National Archives, and three Smithsonian Institution museums—the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of the American Indian—leading to concern about the potential effects of the cars’ vibrations on the museums and their collections.

Experts at the National Gallery are concerned enough about the potential effect on artworks that they conducted a study and have implemented unspecified measures to protect the collection, reports the Washington Post. The National Gallery houses masterpieces by the likes of Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and Jan van Eyck.

“In preparation for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, the National Gallery conducted an extensive vibration study and based on the results we have implemented a set of measures to ensure the safety of our staff, visitors, collection, and facilities during the race,” gallery spokesman Chris Abanavas told the Post. “While we are not releasing the specifics, I can share that any such measures are only being taken out of a great abundance of caution.” In an email to ARTnews, Abanavas declined to comment further.

A Smithsonian official told the Post that the race will not endanger any of its artifacts and that it will take no precautions.

IndyCar is owned by Roger Penske, who is the father of Jay Penske, the owner of Penske Media Corporation, of which ARTnews is part. 

“The White House and Penske have followed all appropriate protocols and been in close coordination with all relevant agencies to ensure this is also the safest and most secure race for all visitors to enjoy,” Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, told the Post.

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the paper notes, passes by the Salvador Dalí Museum. A spokesperson told the Post that the museum’s collection has been unharmed. 

The Post also cites a report by structural engineers on a vibration-monitoring program at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023, when NASCAR brought a street race to the city for the first time, with cars traveling at up to 150 miles per hour along a route bordering the museum. The study’s authors advised the museum that “vibrations from racecar traffic should not pose a significant threat” to the building or collection and that vibrations resulting from the race were slightly less than those resulting from foot traffic in the galleries.

Out of an “abundance of caution,” per Abanavas, the National Gallery has boarded up some of the building’s skylights and put up protective barriers around certain outdoor artworks, including an Alexander Calder sculpture.