SAAM Stories

Bartees Strange warns us against creating musical silos and describes how DC’s rich legacy of Black musicianship shaped his goals and his worldview.

Now on tour! Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, a collaboration among SAAM and four partner museums, offers counterviews of “the West” and showcases modern and contemporary artists who are who are reclaiming the narratives of their region.

SAAM Arcade is back with a new virtual program format, the museum’s first-ever Game Jam. Learn more about what a game jam is in this blog post!

Artist Melanie Cervantes explores indigeneity, identity, and activism in her printmaking practice

Three years ago we imagined the letters of nineteenth-century portrait sitters to Jonathan Van Ness, star of the Netflix’s series Queer Eye. With so many of us looking for advice about how to tame our unmanageable pandemic hair, we thought we’d take another look.

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

SAAM’s third floor galleries for modern and contemporary art are closed to the public temporarily beginning Monday, July 12 to make way for new artworks and new stories.

Conservators at SAAM uncover new aspects of the influential artist’s work

Senior Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey takes readers behind the scenes of an exhibition’s 17-month run

The artist focused on health and happiness, for herself and others, during the pandemic.

Claudia Zapata, curatorial assistant for Latinx art, shares their insights on a series of photographs by Laura Aguilar recently acquired by SAAM

Romaine Brooks declaring who she is in her 1923 work, Self-Portrait, is ultimately a transgressive act for a LGBTQ+ person.

Artist Carmen Lomas Garza’s scenes from everyday life honor borderland culture and create community

Wes Felton reminisces about his father, jazz legend Hilton Felton, and lets us in on how to freestyle like a pro.

Twisting Column Figure represents the freedom that comes once we commit to unlearning and undoing restrictions, from society and from ourselves.

Take the father figure in your life on an online tour of sports in SAAM’s collection

Artists in ¡Printing the Revolution! explore pressing issues of the LGBTQ+ community

Learn more about the artwork and evolving career of Timothy Horn, feature artist in Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020