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Publications Office

This department helps bring information about American art to readers, museum goers, and online visitors.

You might know about Smithsonian American Art Museum books, which complement the museum's permanent collection and exhibitions. However, the staff also contributes to exhibition text, promotional materials, a scholarly journal, and the museum's Web site.

Publications offers a large selection of books on American art and art history, posters, gift items, and a number of books for children. To browse our virtual shelves, visit the online catalogue.

This department also produces the museum's critically acclaimed journal, American Art, a mainstay of art historians both here and abroad. The print version provides the best scholarship in the field, packaged in a glossy magazine filled with outstanding color reproductions. American Art is co-published with the University of Chicago Press. To subscribe to the print or online version, visit their site at www.journals.uchicago.edu/AmArt.

For further information about the Publications Office, contact Jessica Hawkins at hawkinsj@si.edu.

Recent Publications

In 2006, the Publications Office released two award-winning books to celebrate the renovation and opening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's historic building. America's Art, a collection catalogue written by Theresa Slowik, gathers 225 of our best artworks for an insightful telling of the nation's extraordinary past. Designed by Karen Siatras, the volume won the 2006 Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design from the American Association of Museums.

Temple of Invention: History of a National Landmark traces the story of one of Washington, D.C's oldest public buildings—the Patent Office. Named a National Historic Landmark in 1965, the building today houses two Smithsonian museums, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. This richly illustrated book, designed by Robert Killian and Karen Siatras, won first place in the Washington Book Publishers 2006 Book Design and Effectiveness Competition.

Pictured: Unidentified, Editor, about 1855, daguerreotype with applied color, 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Charles Isaacs