Expecting huge crowds for a retrospective of the whimsical Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, the Hirshhorn will distribute free, timed passes for visitors.

While the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has been distributing timed tickets since its opening, this is the first time that the modern art museum has done so.

Both Kusama’s staggering popularity and the nature of her works, which are often immersive and can only accommodate several people, necessitated the move, Hirshhorn leaders said. Single exhibitions of her works have drawn clamoring crowds in Los Angeles and New York, and the scale of the Hirshhorn’s show will dwarf them.

Opening in February, the show will include begin chronologically with the legendary “Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field,” in which spotted, stuffed phalluses are reflected back from every angle, and conclude with “The Obliteration Room,” where visitors stick dots to a stark-white vision of suburbia.

In total, the exhibition will feature six “kaleidescopic environments,” two-large scale installations, plus paintings and sculptures that date as far back as the early 1950s.

For a sneak peek, check out Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” which is already on display on the Hirshhorn’s outdoor plaza.

To accommodate the expected influx of visitors, the Hirshhorn said it is also tripling the number of guides and volunteer attendants, and opening a pop-up coffee shop by Dolcezza.

The exhibit will be up from Feb. 23 – May 14, after which it is going on the road.

Passes for opening weekend (Feb. 23-Feb. 27) will be released online Monday, Feb. 13, at 11 a.m. for Hirshhorn e-news subscribers and at noon for the public. After that, passes will be released online every Monday at noon for the following week. A limited number of walk-up tickets will also be released. And Hirshhorn members will have access to a special line.

This story has been updated to correctly reflect the title of Kusama’s work, “Pumpkin,” that is already on display.