SAAM Stories: New Acquisitions
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its collection, which includes artworks in all media—from paintings, sculpture, prints, and drawings to time-based media, photographs, self-taught art, and contemporary craft—reveals key aspects of America’s rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today.
Below are stories about artworks recently added to the nation's collection, with an emphasis on objects by Black, Latinx, Asian American, LGBTQ+, Indigenous, and women artists.
Browse a selection of artworks recently added to SAAM's collection in the New Acquisitions online gallery.
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Multimedia artist Sharon Kerry-Harlan pieces together portraits of contemporary Black American life using materials and symbols from the past and presentCategories
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Performing Ambiguity: The Art of Tseng Kwong Chi
In his all too short career, the photographer rejected conventional codes of identity and insisted on new, ambiguous conditions of being.Categories -
Contemporary Craft in Focus: Harlem HellfightersLearn more about artist Bisa Butler's vivid portraits of African American heroes from World War I
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Exploring the American Psyche with Carrie Mae Weems
On the multimedia installation, Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me, recently acquired by SAAMCategories -
Contemporary Craft in Focus: This Present MomentDiscover the inspiration and call to action behind this monumental neon artwork
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Growing a Mindful Collection in 2021
Ten artworks we are excited to add to SAAM’s collectionCategories -
Body and Blood in Ana Mendieta’s Filmwork
Learn about the legacy of groundbreaking artist Ana Mendieta and how she examined urgent political, personal, and artistic questions through her artworkCategories -
Sonya Clark’s “Monumental” Achievements
Examining historical imbalances and the roots of racial injustice through fiber artCategories -
Kay WalkingStick and the Indigenous Presence in American Landscape Painting
A look at three paintings that represent three different decades of the artist’s vibrant careerCategories -
Native American Arts in Focus: Sustaining Traditions—Digital Memories
Discover how artist Kelly Church is ensuring that centuries of Indigenous traditions are preserved for future generations with her beautifully woven basketry.Categories -
Making the Most: In the Studio with Kevin Pourier
Oglala Lakota artist Kevin Pourier creates art from buffalo horn, a material with a deep ancestral and cultural connectionCategories -
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: Between the Leopard and the JaguarArtist Melanie Cervantes explores indigeneity, identity, and activism in her printmaking practice
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Making the Most: In the Studio with Carolyn Crump
The artist focused on health and happiness, for herself and others, during the pandemic.Categories -
Laura Aguilar Photographs in Focus: Latina LesbiansClaudia Zapata, curatorial assistant for Latinx art, shares their insights on a series of photographs by Laura Aguilar recently acquired by SAAMCategories
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Chicanx Queer Visions: Fighting for Change and Exploring Identity
Artists in ¡Printing the Revolution! explore pressing issues of the LGBTQ+ communityCategories -
Making the Most: In the Studio with 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.Categories