Open daily, 11:30 a.m.–7 p.m.

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

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

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A detail of stained glass with a figure, in a fetal position, at the middle

Contemporary Craft in Focus: The Birth of Eve

Artist Judith Schaechter uses the labor-intensive medium of stained glass to capture a singular moment in time

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

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.

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SAAM Creatives

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

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Artist

Frank A. Nankivell

born Malden, Australia 1869-died Florham Park, NJ 1959

Media - J0025513_1b.jpg - 89666 — Frank A. Nankivell, © Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum J0025513

Also known as: Frank Arthur Nankivell
Born: Malden, Australia
Died: Florham Park, New Jersey, United States
Active in: San Francisco, California, United States
New York, New York, United States
Nationalities: American

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Frank A. Nankivell