Take a road trip through SAAM’s collection to find links between automobiles and American art, inspired by Albert H. Small’s gift of model cars.

SAAM’s collection of folk and self-taught art represents the powerful vision of America’s untrained and vernacular artists. Represented in the museum’s collection are pieces that draw on tradition—such as quilts—as well as artworks that reveal a more personal vision.

Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world. The installation includes iconic favorites alongside new acquisitions.

The 1930s was a heady time for artists in America. Through President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, the federal government paid them to paint and sculpt and urged them to look to the nation’s land and people for subjects.

Note: Galleries on the museum’s third floor where modern and contemporary artworks are displayed, including the Lincoln Gallery, temporarily closed to the public on July 12, 2021 to make way for new artworks and new stories.