Installing Ladder for Booker T. Washington took 12 art handlers seven hours. This time-lapse movie demonstrates the process of hoisting the 36-foot-long ash and maple sculpture into the Rotunda in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Martin Puryear A native Washingtonian who has achieved international acclaim, Martin Puryear (b. 1941) has created a distinctive body of sculpture that defies categorization. Serenely quiet and poetic, his work explores natural forms and materials, especially a wide variety of woods, and it engages issues of history, culture, and identity.