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An exterior photograph of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the flagship museum in the United States for American art and craft. It is home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its artworks reveal key aspects of America’s rich artistic and cultural history from the 18th century to today.

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Smithsonian American Art Museum Releases 10 New Digital Comics Exploring the Lives of Women Artists Represented in Its Collection

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has published 10 new digital comics, each celebrating a woman artist represented in the museum’s permanent collection.

J. P. Ball, Unidentified sitter, 1858–60, daguerreotype

Fact Sheet: “J.P. Ball and Robert S. Duncanson: An African American Artistic Collaboration”

This focused exhibition pairs artwork by two Black artists working in the mid-nineteenth century—photographer J. P. Ball and painter Robert S. Duncanson.

A photorealistic painting of items on a table including an orange wedge, apple, a red rose, the Queen of Hearts and more.

Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Reinstalled Modern and Contemporary Galleries Display Expanded View of Artists’ Voices in the United States

This new installation of SAAM's permanent collection freshly examines the explosion of possibility in American art between the 1940s and today. Nearly 100 works by artists using new materials and techniques — and inspired by the social, cultural, and technological changes around them — are on view.

Alma Thomas, The Eclipse, 1970, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1978.40.3

Fact Sheet: “Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas”

“Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas” draws on the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s extensive holdings of Alma Thomas’ art to offer an intimate view of her evolving practice.

Installation image of a black room. There is a red curtain in the background and a red, velvet rope in the foreground. In between them is a blue, holographic image of a figure.

Fact Sheet: “Carrie Mae Weems: Looking Forward, Looking Back”

A focused exhibition of artist Carrie Mae Weems that pairs two projects in which the artist invites others to step back in time.

Portrait of a woman standing with arms crossed with a orange sunset behind her.

Smithsonian American Art Museum Reexamines Narratives of the American West in Major Exhibition Bringing Together Works by 48 Contemporary Artists

Exhibition offers counterviews of “the West” through the perspectives of 48 modern and contemporary artists especially those who identify as Asian American, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and Latinx who offer a broader and more inclusive view of this region.

A person walks holding a radio near her face. A group of people follow.

“Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies” Explores the Intersection of Video and Music by Today’s Leading Contemporary Artists

“Musical Thinking,” features 10 of today's leading contemporary artists who bring musical strategies and insights into their time-based media artworks

A woman wearing a black and white sweater and headphones with a black and white Indigenous design stands in front of water

New Work by Native American and Alaska Native Artists on Display at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

“Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023” focuses on fresh and nuanced visions by six contemporary Native American and Alaska Native artists who express the honors and burdens that connect people to one another.

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Selected high-resolution images for publicity only are available through SAAM’s Dropbox account.

Email AmericanArtPressOffice@si.edu with details about your request to receive the relevant link.

Exhibition Press Kits

Request exhibition press kits for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery. Our kits include press releases, fact sheets, checklists of artworks included in the shows, wall text panels, and publicity images.

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Photography and Filming Requests

Advance notice is required for all media requests. For commercial and documentary requests, please complete the Film Request Form located on the Smithsonian’s Newsdesk. Note: all film crews and photographers require a staff escort while on the museum’s premises.

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Current and Upcoming Exhibitions

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery.

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SAAM's Public Affairs staff telework and are responding to email inquiries only.

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