What Does a Gay Bar Look Like?
Bernard Perlin’s The Bar makes us reflect on the spaces we’ve carved out as our own.
Eye Level
Eye Level is the blog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. Publishing behind-the-scenes museum stories since 2005.
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: Manifestaciones
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: Manifestaciones
Explore Dominican York Proyecto GRAFICA, a New York art collective inspired by Chicano print centers
Making the Most: Kit Paulson
Kit Paulson is currently a resident artist at the Penland School of Craft in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. She makes intricate and whimsical glassworks that embody histories of ornamentation, material culture, and natural history. SAAM is acquiring her work, Lungs.
Discoveries from the Collection: Honoring Sacrifice this Memorial Day with U.S. Military Cemetery Historian
Discover how a partnership between SAAM and the American Battle Monuments Commission commemorates the honor, service and sacrifice of America’s fallen in wars abroad.
Podcast Release: Music and Conversation with Experimental Guitarist Yasmin Williams
The composer and instrumentalist shares her thoughts on music and the development of her craft.
New Deal Arts in Focus: Subway
Our video series American Art Moments takes a closer look at an important New Deal painting in SAAM’s collection
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: José Martí
Chicanx artists elevate national and global historic figures to inspire activism
Asian American Artists and the WPA
A critical look at artistic production and the unequal distribution of benefits during the New Deal period
Protest and Remembrance: Chicanx Artists Confront Police Brutality
Artists honor victims of social injustice and create a space for communal grieving
Welcome Back: SAAM and the Renwick Gallery Reopen May 14
Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director, welcomes visitors back to the museum and looks at artworks on view by Asian American artists in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Discoveries from the Collection: Honoring Service and Sacrifice in American Art
Discover how a partnership between SAAM and the American Battle Monuments Commission revealed an unexpected connection between Paul Manship sketches and a U.S. military cemetery located outside of Rome.
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: Alice Bag
Shizu Saldamando explores identity and representation through portraiture
Chicano Artists Challenging History and Reclaiming Cultural Memory
Chicano artists use graphics to reframe history with new perspectives
Second Nature: Landscapes as a Marker for Stewardship
What do an epic nineteenth-century landscape that inspired the designation of a national park and a twenty-first-century post-apocalyptic scene hinting at a hopeful future have in common?
Podcast Release: Music and Conversation with singer-songwriter Jenna Camille
Singer-songwriter, Jenna Camille, discusses how her creative motivations have evolved over the past year.
Make an Upcycled Planter for Earth Month
Enjoy an easy and fun craft using recycled materials and plant the seed for a greener future
Earth Day 2021: Carleton E. Watkins’ Legacy as a Conservationist
We take a look at the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on nature as well as an excerpt from Eleanor Jones Harvey’s exhibition catalogue focusing on Carleton E. Watkins.
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: Mujer de Mucha Enagua, PA' TI XICANA
Yreina D. Cervántez uses text, imagery, and symbolism to pay tribute to bold female leaders of different eras
Chair-y Blossom at SAAM
Part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s inaugural “Art in Bloom” event, the cherry blossom sculpture Cherry Garden by artist Rashin Kheiriyeh is one of 25 that double as chairs sprinkled throughout DC and the neighboring areas.