How SAAM is helping students stay creative when they can’t visit the museum

A collaboration between SAAM and NPG illuminates the lives and works of women artists in our collections.

A new web series explores American art by making unexpected connections across the Smithsonian

Local student Amaia Noursi responds to the painting, Braceros, by Domingo Ulloa, as part of SAAM's "Creating American Stories" program.

DC public school student Myles Bell, responds to Mark Bradford's painting, Amendment #8

The second ASL After Five happy hour event for the D.C. area’s Deaf community will take place on May 31, 2019

While many of us are planning one last beach getaway, teachers and students in several places around the country have already headed back to the classroom. You might be surprised, however, to hear some of the ways artworks in SAAM’s collection will be showing up with them!

The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own corps of volunteer docents has an illustrious history of creating eye-opening experiences for visitors, and this year marks their 50th anniversary.

Kara Walker’s series Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated), currently on view at SAAM through March 11, and Spike Lee’s 2000 film Bamboozled, are two great examples of how art has the power to tackle sensitive and important matters. Although these works are very different, they discuss the same things: history, race, gender, and stereotypes.

For many of us who don’t consider ourselves artists, being asked to draw on the spot can be a scary proposition. And what if you were then told you’d be doing it in front of a successful working artist? This June, teachers participating in SAAM's four-day summer institute, entitled Art, Inquiry, and Action, were asked to do just that in a hands-on workshop led by artist Manuel Acevedo. And what they took from it was both surprising and intriguing.