Eye Level
Eye Level is the blog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. Publishing behind-the-scenes museum stories since 2005.
Statement from Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch
On inequality and racial division in the United States
Hey Mom, I Made You This Card
Still looking for the right card? SAAM celebrates all mother figures with artworks from our collection.
Mother’s Day Crafting
Mom always thought you were a little crafty. Surprise her with a hand-made flower...or two.
Take Me to Church: A Road Trip In Honor of Painter Frederic Edwin Church
Looking back at a remembered road trip to Frederic Church's house, Olana, in celebration of the artist's 194th birthday and the exhibition, Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture
A Sonnet for the Tiger King
Think of this as a mash up between the eloquent Patrick Stewart who is reading Shakespeare sonnet's online and the over-the-top Tiger King, the Netflix documentary that has become the talk of Zoom happy hours everywhere. Cheers!
Mysteries of the First Mastodon
Conservator Ariel O'Connor unearths the mysteries behind Charles Willson Peale’s mastodon.
Chiura Obata: Artist Interrupted
In our time of social distancing, Obata's handwritten notes have us thinking about how we communicate with one another, and how important a simple note can be.
Hips Don't Lie: The American Incognitum
What's a mastodon doing at SAAM? Dr. Advait Mahesh Jukar, a Deep Time Fellow and Paleontologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, answers our questions.
Designing for Humboldt: Five Questions with Karen Siatras
How a graphic designer at SAAM was inspired to incorporate Humboldt's ideas about nature into the exhibition catalogue
A Brush with Nature: Alexander von Humboldt and Frederic Church
Humboldt’s ideas on art, nature, and philosophy helped to shape American artists, including the influential Hudson River school painters
Stemming the Tide: A Call to Climate Action for Cultural Heritage
Stemming the Tide: A Call to Climate Action for Cultural Heritage
Looking at climate change and cultural heritage worldwide as we honor the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Flower Exploration and Natural Dye Lab
Bring nature indoors in this easy-to-do craft inspired by explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt
Make your own Sun Print and Explore an Early Form of Photography
Did you know that you can create your own work of art with just construction paper and sunlight? You can with a sun print.
SAAM’s Best Friends: Animals in Art and at Home
Because at SAAM everything eventually comes back to American art, some of us have been inspired to model our sweet, sassy, bored, annoyed, sleepy, amusing pets after favorite artworks in our collection. We offer them as amusement and inspiration, and as evidence of the creativity and sense of humor we appreciate in each other.
We’ve Got Your Back...Pack
How SAAM is helping students stay creative when they can’t visit the museum
The Art of the Teleconference
Transform your Zoom virtual background or computer desktop into a work of art