SAAM Staff

Artworks within American Art are meticulously attended to. Humidity and lighting are kept at optimum conditions. But how do you take care of an artwork that adorns the outside entrance to the museum and stands tall during the heat and humidity of the summer as well as the cold of the winter? Also very attentively.

Staying close to home this July 4th weekend? Out of town guests making the sacrifice on the New Jersey Turnpike to visit you this time? Bring them to the Renwick Gallery to explore History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011, highlighting the creativity and talent of craft artists working today.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: The Best of Ask Joan of Art. Begun in 1993, Ask Joan of Art is the longest-running arts-based electronic reference service in the country. The real Joan is actually many people from our museum’s Research and Scholars Center. These experts answer the public's questions about art.

Laurel Fehrenbach, public programs assistant here at American Art, spoke with Avi Wisnia of the Avi Wisnia Quartet about their upcoming performance at Take 5! on Thursday, May 19, from 5 to 8 p.m.

American Art collaborated with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) to research the materials and techniques of American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) in preparation for a 2012 PAFA exhibition of Tanner's works titled, Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit. American Art's paintings conservator Amber Kerr-Allison tells us about the process.

Alli Jessing, Joint Programs Coordinator for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, spoke with Carlos Garza and Rich O'Meara of Silent Orchestra about their upcoming cineconcert. On May 14, 2011, the duo will premiere a new score that they have composed for the classic 1927 German expressionist film Metropolis. The cineconcert begins at 3 p.m. in the museums' McEvoy Auditorium. The program is free, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available in the G Street lobby thirty minutes prior to the performance.

Laurel Fehrenbach, public programs assistant here at American Art, spoke with Brad Linde of the Brad Linde Ensemble about their upcoming performance at Take 5! The group will be performing a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald on Saturday, April 16, from 3 to 5 p.m. as part of Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM).

Claire Walker, Samuel H. Kress Fellow in Paintings Conservation at American Art's Lunder Conservation Center, tells us how conservators clean paintings.

Mary Tait, who leads the Draw & Discover workshops Tuesdays in the Luce Foundation Center interviewed one of the program's veteran participants, Barbara Wright, about her experience with the workshop over the years.

When you view an art exhibition, you're seeing the result of a process that is months, sometimes years, in the making. Artists and curators converse; curators visualize and organize the show; and finally each work is placed in a gallery.

Pioneering ceramic artist, Toshiko Takaezu, passed away last week in her native Hawaii at the age of 88, following a six-decade career in clay.

Paintings Conservator, Amber Kerr-Allison does a final inspection of George Ault's painting Bright Light at Russell's Corners with a UV flashlight just before the show opens.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: The Best of Ask Joan of Art. Begun in 1993. Question: Charles Alvah Walker and Albion Harris Bicknell are artists associated with monotype prints. I can find information about the artists, but what is a monotype? How would I know if I was looking at one?

Christopher Kendall, Dean and Paul Boylan Collegiate Professor of Music of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, leads the musical ensemble, 21st Century Consort, which is in residence at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, in a concert Saturday, February 12, 2011.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: The Best of Ask Joan of Art. Question: What kind of Cubism was Jacob Lawrence known for employing?

Scott Rosenfeld, American Art's lighting designer, lets us in on the challenges of lighting an artwork.

Emily Moazami, one of American Art's photograph archivists, recently found this gem in our Peter A. Juley & Son Collection.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: The Best of Ask Joan of Art. Question: I am interested in the history of woodturning and the use of lathes in early American colonies.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: The Best of Ask Joan of Art. Begun in 1993, Ask Joan of Art is the longest-running arts-based electronic reference service in the country. Question: Duane Hanson's sculpture Woman Eating is dated 1971, but the magazine on the table where she sits is only a few years old. Why is this?

Alexis Rockman was one of the first contemporary artists to build his career around exploring environmental issues, from evolutionary biology and genetic engineering to deforestation and climate change. His new exhibition bring together 47 paintings and works on paper from his early works in the mid-1980s to the present.