SAAM Stories

In honor of our recent exhibition Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist, the Lunder Conservation Center presented a behind-the-scenes look at the artist's Fisk murals.

As we celebrate National Cake Decorating Day on Friday, October 10 (people, check your calendars!), I can think of no greater tribute to the sugary art of confection than pausing to look at one of Wayne Thiebaud's own creations.

The market's up! The market's down! While the financial markets try to regain their footing, I decided to see how artists have portrayed Wall Street over the years, and came across this interesting lithograph by Arnold Ronnebeck.

Georgina Bath is the Interpretive Programs Manager for the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, our visible storage facility. Last month the Luce Foundation Center launched Ghosts of a Chance, a creative initiative that calls for audience participation on a grand scale.

Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass opens tomorrow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery.

Eric Widing, head of the American Paintings and Sculpture Department for Christie's since 1998, kicked off the 2008 Collector's Roundtable series with his talk, "Buying at Auction," offering us a capsule of his years in the art business.

Mark Dion has been chosen as the 2008 winner of the Lucelia Artist Award, given annually by the Smithsonian American Art Museum to an artist younger than 50 who has shown outstanding creativity through an exceptional body of work.

What do Mickey Mouse, a lobster, and a football player all have in common? Give up? They can all be found in Lloyd G. Schermer’s An American Puzzle!

Georgina Bath is the Interpretive Programs Manager for the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, our visible storage facility. Earlier this month the Luce Foundation Center launched Ghosts of a Chance, a creative initiative that calls for audience participation on a grand scale. We asked her to fill us in on the latest.

Bill Viola kicked off the 2008 Clarice Smith Distinguished Lectures in American Art series last week to a full house at SAAM. His talk "Transfigurations" gave a behind-the-scenes look into the artist's Zen-influenced philosophy of art, life, technology, and death.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, partners in art and in life, were on hand at SAAM Saturday afternoon for a screening of Running Fence, the film about the making of their 1976 project in northern California. SAAM just acquired documentary material and artwork from Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972–76.

You've been hearing a fair amount about Night at the Museum II: Battle of the Smithsonian in the papers, in the blog, and via general buzz on the street. It got me thinking about sequels to originals and sequels to sequels.

Julie Heath is the Program Coordinator for the Lunder Conservation Center, our open conservation lab. We asked Julie to fill us in on the Lunder's latest project.

In the mid 1970s, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose outdoor sculptural works of art have captivated us for years, created their epic project, Running Fence, in northern California. We’re excited that Christo and Jeanne-Claude will be at the Museum Saturday afternoon.

It wasn't your typical Wednesday morning in downtown DC. Famed Pop-artist Roy Lichtenstein's Modern Head was installed today outside of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, at the corner of F and Ninth Streets.

Nothing in the collections of SAAM is 17,000 years old, but a recent article in the Washington Post got me thinking about taking care of, and preserving, works of art.

Sam Gilliam is represented in the current exhibition, Local Color, but there's another painting of his on display nearby. Swing is representative of the artist's canvases that were not stretched, but draped and suspended from the ceiling and adjoining walls.

In June SAAM, along with its partner Cisco, hosted teachers from Louisiana and Mississippi, who came to the museum to learn how to use technology in their classrooms. We asked Dr. Elizabeth Eder, SAAM's national education program manager, to write about the week's activities.