SAAM Stories

"Welcome, all you fans of small bodies of water," John Gossage said, as he took to the stage of the McEvoy Auditorium for a spirited discussion of his work The Pond with Toby Jurovics, American Art's curator of photography.

It's Halloween! And we've got our own personal ghosts inhabiting the halls and galleries of American Art. We're holding our final Ghosts of a Chance scavenger hunt on Halloween.

Laurel Fehrenbach, public programs assistant here at American Art, spoke with Doc Scantlin and Chou Chou from the Imperial Palm Orchestra about their upcoming performance at Take 5!

his post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: The Best of Ask Joan of Art. Begun in 1993. Question: I have noticed several statues such as Hiram Powers's Eve Tempted that appear to have holes bored in them. What caused the holes and why are they not repaired?

On October 23 the 21st Century Consort performs its first concert of its season at American Art. The concert is inspired by the museum's Norman Rockwell exhibition, Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Last month the American Art Museum received a commendation for Art Signs OnLine from the international JODI Awards which recognize innovative uses of digital media to make museums, galleries, libraries, archives, and heritage venues more accessible to disabled people. Susan Nichols, Chief of Education at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, tells us about the genesis of the program.

For your own sketching epiphany sign up for our next Draw and Discover program. The workshop runs every Tuesday from 3-4:30pm in the Luce Foundation Center, third floor. Check the online calendar for special workshops like this one.

Erica Hirshler, senior curator of American paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, kicked off the Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series in American Art with a spirited look at John Singer Sargent. His painting, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit—a seven by seven foot masterpiece that has earned pride of place in the MFA as well as in Hirshler's heart—was the jumping off point for a look at Sargent's portraits that ranged from the seemingly innocent (as in the case of the Boit's) to the scandalous Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau).

One hundred sixty people came to American Art on September 18th to participate in the launch event for our new alternate reality game, Pheon. First, each participant answered three questions to determine whether they would be playing as Knaves or Staves. How would you respond?

"I hate to see the show go. It seems like yesterday that it opened. But when you think about it, the Fence was only up for two weeks!," George Gurney, deputy chief curator at American Art, told me last week when we were speaking about the closing of the exhibition, Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the Running Fence.

Joe Pozzi was only a boy when Christo and Jeanne-Claude approached his father for permission to erect The Running Fence on land that ran through their Sonoma County, California, property. We asked Joe if he would kindly share some of his memories of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and the Running Fence with us. The exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the Running Fence closes on September 26.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: The Best of Ask Joan of Art. Question: How does one clean an oil painting from the 1930s covered with dust and nicotine stains?

This past week, the museum's Deputy Director invited me to accompany her to see two newly acquired Joseph Cornell boxes. A real treat. She knew I had written my master's thesis on Cornell and was a long time devotee of the artist.

I've been a fan of Antiques Roadshow since I was young, and it even inspired me to write my tenth grade term paper on English furniture. So I was ecstatic when I heard they were coming to film in the museum's Luce Foundation Center and Lunder Conservation Center.

I admit, it was the title, Wishing for Winter, that first drew me to this work, as I walked around American Art on one of Washington D.C.'s toastiest days. August may have ended, but the summer is not going anyplace just yet. I let the crowds explore the Norman Rockwell exhibit on the ground floor, while I made my way up to three, to check out modern and contemporary works. It was pretty busy up there, too.

Photographer Craig Thoburn, a big fan of Norman Rockwell, set up his own backdrop to make this wild Rockwell Saturday Evening Post homage to the artist. His brother was more than eager to pose. Here's what Thoburn said about Rockwell and our exhibition Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Do you prefer cupcakes or salted peanuts? Would you rather untie a knot or a bow? Think carefully, because the answers may determine your place in our new "big" game, Pheon.

Folks from the popular PBS show, Antiques Roadshow, came to film at SAAM yesterday before Saturday’s main event at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.