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Press Releases

2022
Smithsonian American Art Museum Names Randall Griffey as New Head Curator
Christina Michelon Receives the 18th Annual Frost Essay Award
Media Advisory – Photo Op Artists To Discuss Their Work at Opening Day Open House for “This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World”
“This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World” Examines the State of Contemporary Craft in America Today
Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquires More than 200 Artworks for its Craft Collection Including Major Works by Bisa Butler, Sonya Clark, Roberto Lugo, Preston Singletary and Wanxin Zhang
Fact Sheet – "We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection"
Jane Carpenter-Rock, Deputy Director for Museum Content and Outreach
Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents In-Person and Virtual Programs as Part of the 2022 National Cherry Blossom Festival
Eric Nastasi, Deputy Director for Administration and Finance
Smithsonian American Art Museum Appoints Two New Deputy Directors
Jill Vaum Rothschild Joins the Smithsonian American Art Museum as Luce Foundation Curatorial Fellow
Fact Sheet – "This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World"
2021
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces Native American Artists To Be Featured in Its Renwick Invitational in 2023
Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents a Global Survey of Contemporary Glass Art at Its Renwick Gallery
Cherise Smith Awarded the 33rd Annual Eldredge Prize for Her Book "Michael Ray Charles: A Retrospective"
Stephanie Stebich, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director
New Exhibition Examines Cultural Exchange Between American Artists and Venetian Glassmakers During the Late 19th Century
Virginia M. Mecklenburg, Senior Curator
Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquires Extraordinary Early Photography Collection From Larry J. West
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces New Equity and Diversity Initiative Through the American Art Journal
Smithsonian American Art Museum Receives $2.1 Million From the Windgate Foundation
Fact Sheet “Welcome Home: A Portrait of East Baltimore, 1975–1980”
El Museo Smithsonian del Arte Americano anuncia la gira nacional de la exposición itinerante que replantea el oeste americano a través del arte moderno y contemporáneo
Smithsonian American Art Museum Hosts Its First Game Jam as Part of ​ “SAAM Arcade 2021”
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2021–2022 Fellowship Appointments and Residencies
Sascha Scott Receives the 17th Annual Frost Essay Award for Her Article About Decolonizing the Field of American Art
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces a Nationally Touring Exhibition Re-Examining the American West Through Modern and Contemporary Art
El Smithsonian va a abrir siete museos y el Zoológico Nacional en mayo
Smithsonian American Art Museum Reopens May 14
Smithsonian To Reopen Seven Museums and the National Zoo in May
Smithsonian American Art Museum Receives Major Gift of Extraordinary Amish Quilts from the Collectors Faith and Stephen Brown
Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents a Series of Virtual Programs as Part of the 2021 National Cherry Blossom Festival
2020
Smithsonian Museums and the National Zoo To Close Nov. 23
“¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now” Unites Historic Civil Rights-Era Prints With Works by Contemporary Graphic Artists
En la exposición “¡Imprimir la revolución! Auge e impacto de las obras gráficas chicanas, desde 1965 hasta hoy” se han reunido grabados históricos de la era de los derechos civiles y obras de artistas gráficos contemporáneos
Smithsonian American Art Museum Explores the Relationship Between Art and Nature in a New Exhibition at Its Renwick Gallery
Smithsonian American Art Museum Celebrates 50 Years of Its Preeminent Fellowship Program With New Online Resources and Symposium
“Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture” Explores Renowned Naturalist’s Impact on American Identity
Smithsonian American Art Museum Extends Critically Acclaimed Exhibition “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture” Through Jan. 3, 2021
Smithsonian To Reopen Four Additional Museums Sept. 18
Tala Madani Is the 2020 Winner of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Annual Video Game Festival “SAAM Arcade” Launches Online
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2020–2021 Fellowship Appointments and Residencies
Linda Kim Awarded the 32nd Annual Eldredge Prize for Her Book “Race Experts: Sculpture, Anthropology, and the American Public in Malvina Hoffman’s Races of Mankind”
Artist Arthur Jafa’s Renowned “Love is the Message, The Message is Death” To Be Streamed Continuously Online for the First Time, June 26-28 
Diana L. Linden Receives the 16th Annual Frost Essay Award for Her Article About Civil Rights Artist and Activist William R. Christopher
Canceled - Media Advisory Press Preview for Groundbreaking Exhibition Exploring Alexander von Humboldt’s Impact on American Identity
Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents a Series of Public Programs as Part of the 2020 National Cherry Blossom Festival
“Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture” Explores Renowned Naturalist’s Impact on American Identity
Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents the First Major Museum Exhibition to Explore the Achievements of Native Women Artists at Its Renwick Gallery
Media Advisory Press Preview for First Major Exhibition to Explore the Achievements of Native Women Artists
Media Advisory – Photo Op Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Celebrate the Lunar New Year With a Family Festival
Mary Savig Joins Curatorial Staff at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery
2019
Fact Sheet “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture”
Major Retrospective “Chiura Obata: American Modern” Celebrates Influential Japanese American Painter
Media Advisory Press Preview for Major Retrospective of Japanese American Artist Chiura Obata
Grace Yasumura Joins the Smithsonian American Art Museum as Inaugural Luce Foundation Curatorial Fellow
Fact Sheet "Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists"
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces Artists To Be Featured in 2020 Renwick Invitational
Nora Atkinson Named Curator-in-Charge for the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery
Nora Atkinson, The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge, Renwick Gallery
Media Advisory - Tanya DePass Presents Keynote About Diversity in the Gaming Community
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Annual Video Game Festival “SAAM Arcade” Builds Community by Breaking Down Barriers
Smithsonian American Art Museum Receives Major Grant for Five-Year Collaboration With Five Partner Museums Across the American West
Paisid Aramphongphan Awarded the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 2019 Terra Foundation for American Art International Essay Prize
“Michael Sherrill Retrospective” Features Extraordinary Sculptures Inspired by Botanical Wonders
“Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination” Transforms the Renwick Gallery Into a Post-Apocalyptic Haven of Hope
Media Advisory - Preview Exhibitions Featuring Augmented Reality and Studio Craft That Highlight the Beauty of Nature Through Botanically Inspired Sculptures
Three Smithsonian Museums Present “America Now: Celebration of Music” June 22
Media Advisory - Photo Op Smithsonian American Art Museum Kicks-Off Pride Month With Display of Rainbow Lights
Media Advisory - Press Preview for New Photography Exhibition That Explores Cultural Mythologizing of Iconic Symbols of American Identity
“American Myth & Memory: David Levinthal Photographs” Opens June 7 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2019–2020 Fellowship Appointments
Smithsonian American Art Museum To Establish New Curatorial Training Fellowships With a Major Grant From the Henry Luce Foundation
Monica Steinberg Receives the 15th Annual Frost Essay Award for Her Article About George Herms
Nizan Shaked Awarded the 31st Annual Eldredge Prize for Her Book "The Synthetic Proposition: Conceptualism and the Political Referent in Contemporary Art"
“Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Examines How the Vietnam War Changed American Art
Media Advisory - Press Preview for Two Exhibitions That Examine How the Vietnam War Changed America and American Art
“Vietnam, Past Is Prologue” by Internationally Acclaimed Artist Tiffany Chung Opens March 15 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum Will Present a Series of Public Programs as Part of the 2019 National Cherry Blossom Festival
“Orchids: Amazing Adaptations” Opens Feb. 16
Smithsonian American Art Museum Extends Critically Acclaimed Exhibition “Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor” for Three Weeks Through April 7
2018
Amelia Goerlitz, Chair of Academic Programs
David Voyles Named Deputy Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Hirshhorn, Smithsonian American Art Museum Jointly Acquire Arthur Jafa’s Breakout Work “Love is the Message, The Message is Death”
Renwick Gallery Showcases Contemporary Artists Tanya Aguiñiga, Sharif Bey, Dustin Farnsworth and Stephanie Syjuco in “Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational 2018”
Media Advisory - Press preview for new exhibition "Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational 2018"
“Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Is the First Major Retrospective of an Artist Born Into Slavery
Media Advisory Press Preview for "Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor"
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Fourth Annual “SAAM Arcade” Links Art and Video Games
“Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen” Opens June 21 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Media Advisory Smithsonian American Art Museum and Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery Celebrate Capital Pride With Rainbow Lighting
Media Advisory Press Preview for “Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen”
Three Smithsonian Museums Present “America Now: Solstice Edition,” an After-Hours Celebration
Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2018–2019 Fellowship Appointments
Susan Rather Awarded the 30th Annual Eldredge Prize for Her Book The American School
Peter Betjemann Receives the 14th Annual Frost Essay Award for His Article on Robert S. Duncanson’s Literary Paintings
Saisha Grayson Joins the Smithsonian American Art Museum as Curator of Time-Based Media
Saisha Grayson, Curator
Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquires Three Masterworks by Beloved American Artist Grandma Moses