Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents a Series of Public Programs as Part of the 2020 National Cherry Blossom Festival

Free Cherry Blossom Celebration, March 21, Is Premiere Event

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is collaborating with the 2020 National Cherry Blossom Festival for a series of cherry blossom-themed public programs from March 21 to March 27. Special cherry blossom-themed products, including scarves, t-shirts, mugs, ornaments and tote bags, will be available in the museum’s stores.

The SAAM Cherry Blossom Celebration is a signature event of the annual citywide festival. On Saturday, March 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the museum will present free activities for children and families. A taiko drumming performance kicks off the celebration on F Street N.W. at the museum’s entrance. Les The DJ will perform live, and the Koto Ensemble will perform traditional Japanese dance for visitors in the Kogod Courtyard. Cherry blossom-themed crafts, a scavenger hunt and face painting, will also be available. Additional information and a schedule of activities are available online at americanart.si.edu/events. This Cherry Blossom Family Celebration is part of the museum’s popular Family Festival series designed to spark learning, creativity and appreciation for the arts. The 2020 media partners are Washington Parent, 97.1 WASH-FM and 98.7 WMZQ.

Matt Long, the official artist of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, will lead a “Beyond the Studio Workshop” in the museum’s Luce Foundation Center Sunday, March 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Long will share highlights from his experience as a local artist and instruct participants on how to create their own screen printing and ink artworks. Tickets ($10) are available for purchase beginning March 8 at noon. 

Friday, March 27, the museum will host Cherry Blossom Sunrise with Daybreakers. The program features yoga at 6 a.m. followed by dancing from 7 to 9 a.m. Tickets are $25. Registration is required at daybreaker.com/city/dc.

Featured Exhibition—“Chiura Obata: American Modern” 

Currently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum is “Chiura Obata: American Modern.” The exhibition celebrates the career of Chiura Obata (1885–1975), who ranks among the most significant California-based artists and Japanese American cultural leaders of the last century. Obata is best known for his majestic views of the American West. He brought a distinctive trans-Pacific style to the arts community of California as an artist and teacher. This major traveling retrospective presents the most comprehensive survey to date of his acclaimed and varied body of work, from bold landscape paintings of the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park to intimate drawings of his experiences of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

About the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the home to one of the finest and most inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its artworks reveal America’s rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. The museum’s main building is located at Eighth and F streets N.W., above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station. Museum hours are 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Its Renwick Gallery, a branch museum dedicated to contemporary craft and decorative arts, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. The Renwick is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Website: americanart.si.edu.

About the National Cherry Blossom Festival

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is the nation’s greatest springtime celebration. The 2020 Festival, March 20 through April 12, includes four weeks of events featuring diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty and community spirit. Visit nationalcherryblossomfestival.org or call (877) 44-BLOOM for more information, or check out Facebook (CherryBlossomFestival), Twitter (@CherryBlossFest) and Instagram (@CherryBlossFest). 

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Note to editors: Selected high-resolution images for publicity only are available through the museum’s Dropbox account. Email americanartpressoffice@si.edu to request the link.