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Upcoming Exhibitions

Museum

  • Welcome Home: A Portrait of East Baltimore, 1975-1980

    Media - 1983.63.998 - SAAM-1983.63.998_1 - 55235

    July 16, 2021 — January 17, 2022

    Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)
    Welcome Home: A Portrait of East Baltimore, 1975-1980 captures a cross-section of East Baltimore residents and businesses in the 1970s, documenting the community’s history and diversity.  These photographs by Elinor Cahn, Joan Clark Netherwood, and Linda Rich were taken as part of a program of photography surveys sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts to celebrate the bicentennial of founding of the United States.

  • Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea

    Thumbnail
    Ideas about the American West, both in popular culture and in commonly accepted historical narratives, are often based on a past that never was, and fail to take into account important events that actually occurred. The exhibition Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea examines the perspectives of 48 modern and contemporary artists who offer a broader and more inclusive view of this region, which too often has been dominated by romanticized myths and Euro-American historical accounts.

    National Tour

    Boise Museum of Art
    in Boise, Idaho
    –
    Whatcom Museum of Art
    in Bellingham, Washington
    –
    Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
    in Eugene, Oregon
    –
    Utah Museum of Fine Art
    in Salt Lake City, Utah
    –
    Smithsonian American Art Museum
    in Washington, DC
    –

  • New Glass Now 

    A chandelier made of glass that looks like meat.

    October 22, 2021 — March 6, 2022

    Renwick Gallery (Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW)

    New Glass Now documents the innovation and dexterity of artists, designers, and architects from around the world working in the challenging material of glass. This global survey is designed to highlight the breadth and depth of contemporary glass making.

  • Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women

    Media - 2019.15 - SAAM-2019.15_1 - 137377

    April 22, 2022 — August 28, 2022

    Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)
    The artists in Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women mastered and subverted the everyday materials of cotton, felt, and wool to create deeply personal artworks. This exhibition presents an alternative history of twentieth-century American art by showcasing the work of artists such as Emma Amos, Sheila Hicks, and Faith Ringgold, who, stitch by stitch, utilized fiber materials to express their personal stories and create resonant and intricate artworks.

  • Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas

    Media - 1978.40.3 - SAAM-1978.40.3_2 - 137737

    February 24, 2023 — August 27, 2023

    Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)

    This exhibition provides an intimate view of Alma Thomas’ evolving artistic practices during her most prolific period from 1959 to her death in 1978. Recent research reveals how she was continually innovative, adapting to personal health challenges later in her life.

  • Steel and Sky: Views of New York City

    Media - 1971.84.75 - SAAM-1971.84.75_1 - 137422

    Opening 2024

    Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)
    Steel and Sky: Views of New York City celebrates the architecture, inhabitants, and imaginative spirit of urban America. The exhibition showcases work by artists such as John Sloan, Isabel Bishop, William H. Johnson, and Paul Cadmus, who practiced in New York through the early and middle years of the twentieth century.