Luce Foundation Center

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Open daily, 11:30 a.m.–7 p.m.

The nation’s first collection of American art, an unparalleled record of the American experience.

Plan your visit

Renwick Gallery Stairwwell

Renwick Gallery

Open daily, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Located just feet from the White House, a branch of the museum that is home the nation's collection of contemporary craft and decorative art.

Plan your visit

How Do I Research My Art?

Want to learn more about the painting you found while clearing out the attic? For answers, be prepared for a little detective work.

How to Care for Your Collections

Regardless of the monetary value of your artwork, if it is personally meaningful, you should consider having the object conserved.

Recording a Changing Nation

This resource uses images from photographic surveys in 55 communities in 30 states across the United States as source documents to spark sustained inquiry.

Critical Thinking in Action

These 60-to-95-minute units pair thinking patterns with works of art to instill a thinking disposition transferable across classroom curriculum and into the wider world.

Event Venues and Space Rental

Museum Store Online

Detail of brown ceramic jar with writing and the signature "Dave" inscribed around the top.

David “Dave” Drake: Potter and Poet

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

Artist Tanya Aguiñiga wearing a suit made of glass elements while standing next to the U.S./Mexico border wall

Exploring Border Stories with Artist Tanya Aguiñiga

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.

Director’s Circle

A national membership group of museum friends who share a love of American art and craft and our commitment to celebrating the extraordinary creativity of our nation’s artists.

A membership group for young professionals who are interested in immersing themselves in the American art experience.

Artist

Elinor Cahn

born Baltimore, MD 1925-died Baltimore, MD 2020

Born: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Nationalities: American

Exhibitions

Media - 1983.63.998 - SAAM-1983.63.998_1 - 55235

Welcome Home: A Portrait of East Baltimore, 1975 – 1980

July 16, 2021–January 23, 2022

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Welcome Home: A Portrait of East Baltimore, 1975-1980 captures a cross-section of East Baltimore residents and businesses in the 1970s, documenting the community’s history and diversity. These photographs by Elinor Cahn, Joan Clark Netherwood, and Linda Rich were taken as part of a program of photography surveys sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts to celebrate the bicentennial of founding of the United States.

Related Posts

Group of senior citizens celebrating Fourth of July in front of a home.

03/29/2021

The Year of Photography: A Remembrance of Joan Clark Netherwood

Curator John P. Jacob reflects on his recent conversations with the photographer Joan Clark Netherwood, her legacy, and the East Baltimore Documentary Photography Project

Photography of John Jacob by Friedrich Nill.

McEvoy Family Curator for Photography

A black and white photograph of a person leaning out of a window, holding an umbrella.

Exhibitions Women Artists

07/16/2021

Into the Community: A New Exhibition Explores a Changing American Neighborhood

A close exploration of a resilient community through the lens of three women photographers

Rebekah Mejorado

Public Relations Specialist

A black and white photograph of Edith Massey standing in front of her store.

Exhibitions From the Collection

01/19/2022

Elinor Cahn: Photographer and Poet of East Baltimore in the 1970s

Exploring the spirit of one American neighborhood in a time of change

Krystle Stricklin

Three women sitting side-by-side preparing food

Exhibitions From the Collection

03/22/2022

Through the Lens of Photographer Linda Rich

A look into the daily lives of women living in one close-knit Baltimore neighborhood

Krystle Stricklin