SAAM Stories

Have you ever taken a poster off a wall and found some pieces of foamy tape left behind? That's similar to what is stuck to the base of the John Scott sculpture, Thornbush Blues Totem.

Somewhere between the letters PhD and CSI lives the amazing work of painting conservators. Part researcher and part detective, they study paintings with state-of-the-art tools that help them see through layers of paint and varnish and enable them to conserve works of art whose colors may have gradually shifted over time and whose canvases may show signs of age.

The opening weekend for The Art of Video Games exhibition was, in one word, AWESOME. Were you there? You should have been! Over twenty-two thousand people visited the museum over the three days, enjoying the exhibition as well as the vast array of programs and activities that we offered.

The 2012 American Picture series will begin on Saturday, March 24, with Maira Kalman, who will discuss Diane Arbus's photograph Untitled (8) (1970-71). Untitled (8) is a strange and haunting photograph of five adults in Halloween costumes. Kalman is a renowned illustrator and contributor to The New Yorker, and The New York Times.

Victoria Lichtendorf joined American Art in 2009 as the Clarice Smith Education Manager. Working with Clarice Smith Education team member, Adrienne Gayoso, she has the great pleasure of collaborating with an outstanding group of teachers from across the United States during summer institutes and throughout the school year. Victoria tells us about teacher Steve Rayburn who is using American art to teach in his English class.

GameFest continues this evening and all day tomorrow, from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Triforce Quartet plays well-known music from various video games.

While GameFest is taking place in both our Kogod Courtyard and McEvoy Auditorium, people are also taking in The Art of Video Games exhibition.

GameFest attendee dressed as Chun Li from the video game Street Fighter II.

After Hideo Kojima's appearance he posed with fans dressed in Metal Gear Solid costumes.

Video game fans are legendary. The audience shows its excitement at hearing Hideo Kojima speak.

The Art of Video Games opened yesterday and as part of our opening festivities GameFest is well underway this weekend. We will be posting images throughout the day.

The Art of Video Games exhibition opens TOMORROW! We asked the curator, Chris Melissinos, about the exhibition, and what he hopes people will experience when they visit the galleries.

We're gearing up for the opening of The Art of Video Games this Friday. I know, I know, it's hard to wait; but while you are take a look at our trailer for the show.

Alli Jessing, Joint Programs Coordinator for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, gives us a peek at our upcoming screening of Seth Gordon's documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: "Q and Art" and is the successor to our series "The Best of Ask Joan of Art." Begun in 1993, Ask Joan of Art was the longest-running arts-based electronic reference service in the country. We retired the service late last year but want to continue to bring you interesting questions and answers about art and artists from our archive.

What's in a frame? More than a painting, as I discovered after talking to Martin Kotler, frames conservator for the American Art Museum.

Thornbush Blues Totem by John Scott will be featured in our upcoming exhibition, African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond. In preparation, museum conservators and art handlers moved the eight-foot tall sculpture up to the conservation labs for examination and treatment. Staffer Mary Tait described the experience: