Soccer Balls Designed by 23 Artists Celebrate FIFA World Cup

Many in the artworld might be surprised to learn that one of the last projects the legendary art collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund worked on before her death last fall involved the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted this year in North America.  

The project, Art of the Game, involved commissioning 23 contemporary artists—mostly nominated by high-profile museum curators—to design large-scale soccer ball sculptures that will be installed all summer long around New York and New Jersey.

Art of the Game is organized by the ARTS 14C, a nonprofit based in Jersey City, New Jersey. The group supports visual artists, writers, performers, and other cultural organizations with access to space and professional opportunities. Diana Burroughs, ARTS 14C’s executive director, and Gund were friends for over four decades and shared a love of sports. “I knew I would not have to convince [Gund] of the idea’s merits,” Burroughs said in a statement about the project. “Aggie quickly began making introductions and put together a committee of the city’s top museums; I could not have done so myself. I am only sorry that she is not alive to appreciate what her goodwill has done.”

The first artist Gund reached out to was Katherine Bernhardt; her soccer ball is installed in Rockefeller Plaza in front of Christie’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan. Many others followed, among them Futura 2000 (nominated by Brooklyn Museum director Ann Pasternak), Edgar Heap of Birds (nominated by recently retired MoMA director Glenn Lowry), and Taína H. Cruz (nominated by Whitney Museum director Scott Rothkopf).

The sculptures were fabricated at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn, and will be on view in various parks, plazas, and other public spaces through Labor Day; a few will be on permanent view. Of the 23, five—by Fred Wilson, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Hank Willis Thomas, Katherine Bernhardt, and Bony Rameriz—will be part of an online sale at Christie’s from July 2 to 17, with proceeds shared between the artists, ARTS 14C, and Studio in a School, a nonprofit founded by Gund in 1977.

Check out some of the Art of the Game soccer balls below, all of which are on view as of today.