Forever Marilyn

Palm Springs, California, United States

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

Forever Marilyn is a 26-foot sculpture by Seward Johnson of Marilyn Monroe in her white-dress scene from The Seven Year Itch, in downtown Palm Springs, California. Under a 2024 settlement it was moved from Museum Way to nearby Downtown Park in February 2025.

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Forever Marilyn

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Site-level location · 33.8228° N, 116.5453° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Marilyn Monroe's billowing white dress, scaled up to 26 feet, has stood in downtown Palm Springs on and off since 2012 and has divided local opinion.

Seward Johnson designed Forever Marilyn in 2011, according to KTLA. The Palm Springs Post describes the 17-ton steel and aluminium figure as recreating the moment in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch when her dress billows up over a Manhattan subway grate. Before settling in Palm Springs it was shown in Chicago, New Jersey, Connecticut and Australia. It first stood in the city from 2012 for two years, at Palm Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way, and returned in June 2021 at an unveiling that the Post says drew more than 500 people.

The 2021 site was Museum Way, a pedestrian street beside the Palm Springs Art Museum. Palm Springs Life reported protesters at the installation who wanted it moved to the new downtown park next door. The placement led to a lawsuit by the Committee to Relocate Marilyn against the city. In July 2024 the city council announced a settlement that would move the statue into Downtown Park, with the statue's owner, the PS Resorts hotel association, agreeing to the compromise. The Post reported in February 2025 that the move, of less than 100 feet, was scheduled for 23 to 28 February, and NBC Palm Springs reported on 26 February that the statue had been relocated that evening, placing her in Downtown Park. The Post put the city's legal fees following the settlement at $350,000. Supporters point to Palm Springs' Hollywood heritage; critics, the Post says, argue it is sexist and inappropriate.

Visit Greater Palm Springs describes the statue in 2026 as anchoring downtown, and announced a Marilyn 100 birthday event for 30 May 2026. PS Resorts' chair said studies showed the statue drew more than 996,033 visitors in 2024.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An outdoor sculpture in downtown Palm Springs, viewed from the park and surrounding paths. The Palm Springs Post says thousands of photographs of it are taken each year. It is public art rather than a ticketed venue.

ACCESS

Downtown Park, just north of Museum Way and the Palm Springs Art Museum in downtown Palm Springs. NBC Palm Springs reported it relocated there on 26 February 2025.

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