Howard Kaplan
Writer
The Art of Remembering 9/11
Artworks in SAAM’s collection and the stories they tell us about 9/11
Blog Posts
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Connecting with Nam June Paik’s Electronic SuperhighwayReflecting on Paik's innovative installation with a new installment of the video series American Art Moments -
New Comic Series Presents Ten Visionaries and Rule Breakers in SAAM’s Collection
SAAM Debuts Drawn to Art: Ten Tales of Inspiring Women Artists -
A Brush with History: Good Hair Advice Is Never Out of Style
Three years ago we imagined the letters of nineteenth-century portrait sitters to Jonathan Van Ness, star of the Netflix’s series Queer Eye. With so many of us looking for advice about how to tame our unmanageable pandemic hair, we thought we’d take another look.Categories -
New Deal Arts in Focus: Subway
Our video series American Art Moments takes a closer look at an important New Deal painting in SAAM’s collection -
Alexander Nemerov on Helen Frankenthaler
The author’s new book, Fierce Poise, chronicles the artist coming into her own in the 1950sCategories -
Museum: A Tale of Art, Life, and Everything In Between
A poet's trip to a museum is eye-opening in unexpected ways -
From Indigo Farm to Art Gallery with Artist Rowland Ricketts
The work of fiber artist Roland Ricketts, featured in the Renwick Invitational, begins on his farm in IndianaCategories -
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We’ve Got Your Back...Pack
How SAAM is helping students stay creative when they can’t visit the museumCategories -
David Levinthal: Toying with the Past?
Populated with toy cowboys and cavalry, Barbie dolls and baseball players, David Levinthal’s photographs reference iconic images and events that shaped postwar American society.Categories -
Mom's the Word with artist Tyler Fuqua
A blog post in honor of Mother's Day, featuring Burning Man artist Tyler Fuqua and his mother talking about his work in "No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man."Categories -
Museum: A Tale of Art, Life and Everything In Between
I'm throwing this one back five years to one of my favorite stories from one of my favorite poets that was originally posted in 2013. It comes with all good wishes from the blog for a wonderful, story-filled, Happy New Year. -
Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor opens today
Bill Traylor (ca. 1853–1949) is among the most important American artists of the twentieth century.
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Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen Now OpenInstalling Trevor Paglen's Prototype for a Nonfunctional Satellite in the exhibition Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen.Categories -
On Lava Thomas's Requiem for Charleston
The other day, my colleague, Libby, and I walked through the museum in search of an artwork we could talk about. And though each artwork has a story to tell, Lava Thomas's "Requiem for Charleston," the artist's response to the church massacre at Mother Emanuel in 2015, spoke the most to us, in a quietly powerful way (if such a thing is possible).Categories -
The Renwick's (David) Best Temple
David Best creates temples for Burning Man that are made of recycled wood that are ritually burned at the end of the annual festival. In this video Best discusses the Temple he created for the Renwick Gallery’s Bettie Rubenstein Grand Salon, as a sacred space for people to reflect on loss.Categories -
Discover the Art of Burning Man at the Renwick
"No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man" brings the large-scale, participatory work from this desert gathering to the nation’s capital for the first time.Categories -
Wendell Castle: Timeless
Master woodworker, furniture maker, and artist Wendell Castle died on January 20, at the age of 85. During his long and illustrious career, he helped define and redefine craft furniture in America.Categories -
Feel the Burn: The Art of Burning Man comes to the Renwick in March
Eye Level spoke with Nora Atkinson, the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, to learn more about her upcoming exhibition No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man, opening at t