Using Science to Uncover Secrets of Alma Thomas
Conservators at SAAM uncover new aspects of the influential artist’s work
Eye Level
Eye Level is the blog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. Publishing behind-the-scenes museum stories since 2005.
Lessons Learned from Alexander von Humboldt
Senior Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey takes readers behind the scenes of an exhibition’s 17-month run
Making the Most: In the Studio with Carolyn Crump
The artist focused on health and happiness, for herself and others, during the pandemic.
Laura Aguilar Photographs in Focus: Latina Lesbians
Claudia Zapata, curatorial assistant for Latinx art, shares their insights on a series of photographs by Laura Aguilar recently acquired by SAAM
Romaine Brooks: Clothes Make the Wo(man)
Romaine Brooks declaring who she is in her 1923 work, Self-Portrait, is ultimately a transgressive act for a LGBTQ+ person.
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: La Curandera
Artist Carmen Lomas Garza’s scenes from everyday life honor borderland culture and create community
Podcast Release: Music and Conversation with Singer, Actor, Painter, and Emcee Wes Felton
Wes Felton reminisces about his father, jazz legend Hilton Felton, and lets us in on how to freestyle like a pro.
Nancy Grossman and the Art of Unlearning
Twisting Column Figure represents the freedom that comes once we commit to unlearning and undoing restrictions, from society and from ourselves.
Father's Day Flashbacks: Creating a Connection through Sports
Take the father figure in your life on an online tour of sports in SAAM’s collection
Chicanx Queer Visions: Fighting for Change and Exploring Identity
Artists in ¡Printing the Revolution! explore pressing issues of the LGBTQ+ community
Sculpting Pride: Timothy Horn’s artworks delve into the human and natural worlds
Learn more about the artwork and evolving career of Timothy Horn, feature artist in Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020
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.
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: 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.
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