A photograph of a woman with brown hair and a dress standing inside a building.

Mary Savig

The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge for the Renwick Gallery

Mary Savig is the Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge for the Renwick Gallery. Savig’s duties include research into collection objects; acquiring artworks for the museum’s permanent collection; collection displays at the museum’s Renwick Gallery, its branch for contemporary craft and decorative art; and organizing exhibitions about craft and maker culture. Savig’s research interests include American studio craft, contemporary craft, American art and material culture. See full staff bio

Exhibitions

Books

  • Crop art with the title State Fairs: Growing American Craft and a cow's head in the center.
    State Fairs: Growing American Craft
    State Fairs: Growing American Craft explores the history of crafting at state fairs from the 1840s to present day and features more than 100 photos of extraordinary and unconventional crafts from state and tribal fairs.
  • Six duotone book covers are show with "This Present Moment" in black text
    This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World
    This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases American craft like never before. Accompanying a 2022 exhibition of the same name, it features artists’ stories of resilience, methods of activism, and highlights craft’s ability to spark essential conversations about race, gender, and representation. This book marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, the nation’s preeminent center for the enjoyment of American craft. It honors the history of the American studio craft movement while also introducing progressive contemporary narratives.

Blog Posts