Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery

A person stands on a balcony and looks up at an artwork made of golden cast arms.
Welcome to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery

Explore the sweep of the American imagination across four centuries at the nation's flagship museum for American art and craft. Dive into inspiring artworks, the reimagined collection, and an array of special exhibitions including Glenn Kaino: Bridge. Experience our offerings both online and in person at our two locations, including national educational programs, innovative research, video interviews with artists, virtual artist studio tours, lectures, audio guides, and more. Admission is always free.

Featured Exhibitions

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Painting of a man lying on the floor. He is looking away from the viewer.
Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo
November 15, 2024 – August 17, 2025
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Pictures of Belonging celebrates three trailblazing Japanese American women artists and asserts their rightful place in American art.
Sculpture of a person completely covered with multiple colorful, intricate patterns standing against a neutral background.
The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture
November 8, 2024–September 14, 2025
Smithsonian American Art Museum
SAAM's groundbreaking exhibition examines the ways in which American sculpture has shaped and reflected attitudes and understandings about race in the United States.
Media - 2019.15 - SAAM-2019.15_1 - 137377
Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women
May 31, 2024–January 5, 2025
Renwick Gallery
The artists in Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women mastered and subverted the everyday materials of cotton, felt, and wool to create deeply personal artworks.

Audio Guides

Experience the Museum Your Way

Smartify's free personalized tours are tailored to your interests and the time you have available. Simply answer a couple of quick questions and we'll hand pick a collection of unmissable objects and captivating stories just for you.

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Upcoming Featured Events

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Featured Stories

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Three paintings on a light blue background.
Asian American ArtExhibitions11/14/2024
Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo
A new exhibition that restores three American women of Japanese descent to their rightful place in the story of modernism 
SAAM
Sculpture of a person completely covered with multiple colorful, intricate patterns standing against a dark red wall with the exhibition title "The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture."
African American ArtAsian American Art11/08/2024
The Shape of Power in American Art
A new exhibition explores how the history of race in the United States is entwined in the history of American sculpture.
SAAM
Teachers use rolled pieces of paper as telescopes.
Education11/05/2024
Teachers from Rural Communities Find Inspiration at SAAM
SAAM's Education Department serves teachers and students in rural communities.
A photograph of Phoebe Hillemann
Phoebe Hillemann
Teacher Institutes Educator

New Acquisitions

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Hank Willis Thomas, Pledge, 2018, screenprint on retroflective vinyl mounted on aluminum composite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Elizabeth and James Eisenstein Family, 2023.12
Pledge
Artist
Date2018
screenprint on retroflective vinyl mounted on aluminum composite
On view
Carrie Mae Weems, Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me - A Story in 5 Parts, 2012, video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2023.9A-G, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me — A Story in 5 Parts
Artist
Date2012
video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes
Not on view
Firelei Báez, Untitled (Premiere Carte Pour L'Introduction A L'Histoire De Monde), 2022, oil and acrylic on archival printed canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2023.32, © 2023, Firelei Báez. Image courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, New York. Photographer: Jackie Furtado
Untitled (Premiere Carte Pour L’Introduction A L’Histoire…
Artist
Date2022
oil and acrylic on archival printed canvas
On view
Hisako Hibi, Floating Clouds, 1944, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2023.6.1, © 2024, Ibuki Hibi Lee
Floating Clouds
Artist
Date1944
oil on canvas
On view