He looks like he’s drowning in the earth. Or maybe he’s fighting his way out of a nightmare. If you spent any time on the Hains Point waterfront in the 80s or 90s, you know exactly the feeling of stumbling upon those massive, silvery limbs erupting from the grass. It was jarring. It was weird. Honestly, it was one of the coolest things about the District. But if you head down to East Potomac Park today looking for The Awakening sculpture Washington DC, you’re going to find nothing but a flat patch of grass and some confused tourists.
The giant is gone. Well, he didn't exactly die; he just moved to the suburbs.
J. Seward Johnson Jr. created this five-part aluminum masterpiece back in 1980 for the Exhibition of Sculpture in the Public Spaces. It wasn't meant to be permanent. Most of the art from that exhibition packed up and left, but the giant stayed for nearly thirty years. He became a local legend. Kids climbed into his open mouth (gross, if you think about the germs, but a rite of passage for every DC local) and photographers spent decades trying to catch the perfect sunrise hitting his bearded face.
Then, in 2008, the ground literally shifted.
The 750,000 Dollar Move Nobody Saw Coming
People were legitimately upset when the news broke. The Sculpture Foundation, which owned the piece, decided it was time to sell. For years, the National Park Service had basically "borrowed" the giant. They didn't own him. They just provided the dirt. When the billionaire developer Milton Peterson came along with $750,000 and a vision for a new development called National Harbor, the deal was done.
It felt like a betrayal. Washingtonians aren't great with change, especially when it involves losing a landmark to a high-end shopping and casino district across the river in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Moving a 70-foot-wide aluminum man isn't exactly a DIY project. It took heavy machinery and a lot of prayer to pull those five pieces—the head, the right knee, the left hand, the right foot, and the left arm—out of the DC soil. They weren't just sitting on top; they were anchored deep. The logistics were a nightmare. Every piece had to be carefully craned onto flatbed trucks, looking like a dismembered titan from a Greek myth heading down I-295.
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Why National Harbor Changed Everything for the Giant
At Hains Point, the giant was isolated. You had to want to find him. It was a trek. At National Harbor, he’s the main event. Peterson understood something about "placemaking" that the city hadn't fully leaned into yet. He placed the sculpture in a man-made beach along the Potomac River, surrounded by sand instead of grass.
It changed the vibe completely.
In DC, he looked like he was trapped in a field. In Maryland, he looks like he’s emerging from the beach. Some purists hate it. They say the sand makes it look like a playground prop rather than a haunting piece of contemporary art. They might have a point. But you can't argue with the foot traffic. Thousands of people interact with those aluminum limbs every single day now. It’s arguably more "awake" now than it ever was in the quiet corners of East Potomac Park.
What Most People Get Wrong About J. Seward Johnson’s Vision
There’s this persistent rumor that the sculpture represents a specific historical figure or a slave breaking free. It's a powerful thought. But Seward Johnson—the heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune who turned to art—was usually more interested in the visceral, physical reaction of the viewer. He wanted to capture the moment of struggle.
The sculpture is hollow. If you get close enough at the National Harbor site, you can see the seams of the aluminum. It’s not one solid cast; it’s a series of plates welded together. Johnson was often criticized by the "fine art" elite for being too populist or too kitschy, but The Awakening sculpture Washington DC (or Maryland, now) is his undeniable masterpiece because it evokes a universal feeling: the fight to exist.
The Other Giants: You Aren't Seeing Double
Here is a weird fact: the one at National Harbor isn't the only one.
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Because the sculpture was cast in a mold, Johnson produced other versions. If you’re ever in Chesterfield, Missouri, you’ll find another "Awakening" at Central Park. There’s even one in Italy—specifically in Syracuse, Sicily. Knowing there are clones out there sort of takes the "special" out of it for some folks, but each site changes how the art feels. The Missouri giant is surrounded by trees. The Italian giant looks out over the Mediterranean.
But for us, the "real" one will always be the one that used to be at Hains Point.
How to Actually See the Sculpture Today
If you’re planning a trip to see The Awakening sculpture Washington DC, stop. Don't put Hains Point in your GPS. You’ll end up at a golf course looking at a bunch of geese.
Instead, you need to head south.
- Location: National Harbor, Maryland. It’s right on the waterfront, specifically at the "beach" area near the Capital Wheel.
- Timing: Go at sunset. The way the light hits the aluminum as it reflects off the Potomac is incredible.
- Parking: It’s pricey. National Harbor is private land, so expect to pay for a garage. Honestly, taking the water taxi from Alexandria is a much cooler way to arrive.
- Interaction: Yes, you can still touch it. You can sit on the knee. You can stand in the palm of the hand. The security guards are mostly there to make sure you don't spray paint it, not to keep you off the art.
The Maintenance Headache
Aluminum is tough, but it isn't invincible. Being right on the water means salt, humidity, and bird droppings are constantly eating away at the finish. The National Harbor team has to do regular "skin" treatments on the giant to keep him from turning a dull, chalky gray. When you visit, look closely at the texture. You can see the "scales" of the metal where it’s been buffed and treated over the years to survive the Maryland elements.
The Legacy of the Move
Was the move a mistake? It depends on who you ask.
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From a preservation standpoint, the sculpture is probably safer now. It’s on private property with 24/7 security. At Hains Point, it was frequently tagged with graffiti and the grounds were often flooded by the rising Potomac. The move to National Harbor likely saved the metal from significant long-term structural damage.
But something was lost. There was a certain "Found Object" magic to seeing those limbs while driving around the tip of the peninsula in DC. It felt like a secret. Now, it's a photo op between a Ben & Jerry’s and a ferris wheel. That's the trade-off of the 21st-century city—we trade mystery for accessibility.
Actionable Steps for Your Visit
Don't just take a selfie and leave. To really appreciate the scale, you have to do a few things.
First, walk the perimeter. Notice how the distance between the hand and the foot tells you exactly how big the "buried" body would be if it were actually there. If the man were standing, he’d be over 70 feet tall.
Second, check out the nearby "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves" if you’re into bronze work, but honestly, nothing in the Harbor competes with the giant.
Third, if you have kids, let them climb. It’s one of the few pieces of world-class art that encourages physical contact. The friction of thousands of hands has polished certain parts of the metal to a mirror shine.
The move from DC to Maryland might have been controversial, but the giant is still fighting his way out of the ground. He’s just doing it in a different zip code. Go see him before the tide comes in.