Upcoming Exhibitions

Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano

October 8, 2021 — May 8, 2022

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

This exhibition brings to life the Venetian glass revival of the nineteenth century on the famed island of Murano and the artistic experimentation the city inspired for artists such as John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler.
New Glass Now 

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

November 18, 2022 — April 16, 2023

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.
Steel and Sky: Views of New York City

March 10, 2023 — August 27, 2023

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.
Musical Thinking: New Video Artists in the Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

June 16, 2023 — January 29, 2024

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

Musical Thinking explores the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music. The exhibition focuses on video art that employs the strategies of musical creation—scores, improvisation, and interpretation—as well as its styles, structures, and lyrics to speak to personal as well as shared aspects of American life.
Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea

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

(July 31, 2021 – February 13, 2022)

Whatcom Museum of Art

in Bellingham, Washington

(March 19, 2022 – August 21, 2022)

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

in Eugene, Oregon

(September 26, 2022 – December 31, 2022)

Utah Museum of Fine Art

in Salt Lake City, Utah

(February 4, 2023 – June 11, 2023)

Smithsonian American Art Museum

in Washington, DC

(July 28, 2023 – January 14, 2024)
Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas

October 6, 2023 — April 21, 2024

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.