SAAM Stories

An African American woman is stepping out of a front door. She is smiling and waving. A child mannequin stands to her side.
Women Artists 03/10/2023
Celebrating the renowned artist with a comic about her life and work.
Artist Tanya Aguiñiga wearing a suit made of glass elements while standing next to the U.S./Mexico border wall
Curator Mary Savig details an artist’s journey to create the powerful performance work Metabolizing the Border that explores the physical and psychological experiences migrants face while crossing the borderlands.
A photograph of a woman with brown hair and a dress standing inside a building.
Mary Savig
Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft
A man wearing a beret stands in front of an artwork. He is speaking to an audience.
From the Collection 02/28/2023
A tribute to the photorealist painter and Vietnam War veteran by SAAM Curator Melissa Ho, who recalls the story behind his extraordinary self-portrait Mi Vida
A photograph of Melissa Ho by Jeff Elkins
Melissa Ho
Curator (20th-Century Art)
A close up detail of a coiled, sweet grass basket
Gullah basket weaver Corey Alston sustains memory and kinship coil by coil
SAAM
Illustrated comic cover. On the left is a close up of an African American woman wearing a headwrap, large glasses, and earrings. On the right is the title "If You Stitch With Me, I'll Tell You A Story."
Women Artists 02/17/2023
Celebrating the renowned artist with a comic about her life and work
Side by side artworks. On the left: a painting with African mask references. On the right: a black sculpture, also with African mask references.
The lives of Loïs Mailou Jones and Elizabeth Catlett intersected briefly but formatively in the 1930s at Howard University
SAAM
A black case that is open to reveal smaller compartments and utensils mounted in the lid. Boxes wrapped in brown paper are stacked on the side.
Metalsmith David Harper Clemons creates art that gives new meanings to everyday objects
SAAM
Four people sit around a table playing a game with large cards. The cards have images of artworks on them.
Access Education 02/03/2023
SAAM educators highlight the collection with a new art-based card game
Kelly Skeen
Detail of brown ceramic jar with writing and the signature "Dave" inscribed around the top.
Craftsman David “Dave” Drake, enslaved for most of his life, produced uncommonly large ceramic jars in 19th-century South Carolina adorned by his poetic verses
A woman in a black blazer smiles in front of a dusky landscape
Jill Vaum Rothschild
Luce Curatorial Fellow
A photograph of a woman standing in front of artwork.
Leslie Umberger
Curator (Folk and Self-Taught Art)
A photograph of a woman in front of artwork
From the Director 01/26/2023
Director Stephanie Stebich looks forward to the year ahead
 Stephanie Stebich, Former Margaret and Terry Stent Direction in the museum's Lincoln Gallery. Photo by Gene Young. 
Stephanie Stebich
Former Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum
A detail of stained glass with a figure, in a fetal position, at the middle
Artist Judith Schaechter uses the labor-intensive medium of stained glass to capture a singular moment in time
SAAM
A white man wearing a dark blazer stands leaning on a balustrade. He has a slight smile.
Contemporary Craft 01/17/2023
A tribute to the Renwick Gallery's Founding Director, Lloyd Herman, a man whose name was synonymous with studio craft
A photograph of a woman with brown hair and a dress standing inside a building.
Mary Savig
Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft
Detail of a sand bottle artwork showing an eagle carrying an American flag.
Andrew Clemens invented, then perfected, the art of the sand bottle in the late nineteenth century.
A photograph of a woman standing in front of artwork.
Leslie Umberger
Curator (Folk and Self-Taught Art)
A woman in a black blazer smiles in front of a dusky landscape
Jill Vaum Rothschild
Luce Curatorial Fellow
A black  and white photograph of the artist Philip Pearlstein. He is wearing glasses and has a big smile.
SAAM remembers the towering twentieth-century figurative painter, Philip Pearlstein.
SAAM
A black and white illustration of a African American woman. She is shown in 3/4 profile.
Women Artists 12/27/2022
In addition to her own success, Harlem Renaissance sculptor Augusta Savage dedicated her career to creating opportunities for Black artists.
A white Christmas with a homemade box.
Joseph Cornell, who was born in 1903 on Christmas Eve, often created handmade objects to give as gifts during the holidays.
Laura Augustin
Curatorial Assistant
A black and white photo of a man sitting looking away from the camera, his artwork in front of him
An archivist looks at the important art and objects in the Joseph Cornell Study Center
Anna Rimel
A jeweled-encrusted egg
A look at the extraordinary career of master metalsmith and painter Daniel Brush
Photograph of Nora Atkinson by Libby Weiler.
Nora Atkinson
The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge, Renwick Gallery