Press Releases

2021

March 9, 2021	Smithsonian American Art Museum Receives Major Gift of Extraordinary Amish Quilts from the Collectors Faith and Stephen Brown
February 19, 2021	Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents a Series of Virtual Programs as Part of the 2021 National Cherry Blossom Festival

2020

November 19, 2020	Smithsonian Museums and the National Zoo To Close Nov. 23
November 16, 2020	“¡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
November 16, 2020	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
October 8, 2020	Smithsonian American Art Museum Explores the Relationship Between Art and Nature in a New Exhibition at Its Renwick Gallery
October 5, 2020	Smithsonian American Art Museum Celebrates 50 Years of Its Preeminent Fellowship Program With New Online Resources and Symposium
September 14, 2020	“Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture” Explores Renowned Naturalist’s Impact on American Identity
September 14, 2020	Smithsonian To Reopen Four Additional Museums Sept. 18
September 14, 2020	Smithsonian American Art Museum Extends Critically Acclaimed Exhibition “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture” Through Jan. 3, 2021
August 26, 2020	Tala Madani Is the 2020 Winner of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize
July 29, 2020	Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Annual Video Game Festival “SAAM Arcade” Launches Online
July 13, 2020	Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2020–2021 Fellowship Appointments and Residencies
July 10, 2020	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”
June 24, 2020	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
June 1, 2020	Stephanie Stebich, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director
May 15, 2020	Diana L. Linden Receives the 16th Annual Frost Essay Award for Her Article About Civil Rights Artist and Activist William R. Christopher
May 7, 2020	Anya Montiel, Curator of American and Native American Women’s Art and Craft
March 5, 2020	Canceled - Media Advisory Press Preview for Groundbreaking Exhibition Exploring Alexander von Humboldt’s Impact on American Identity
February 27, 2020	Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents a Series of Public Programs as Part of the 2020 National Cherry Blossom Festival
February 25, 2020	“Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture” Explores Renowned Naturalist’s Impact on American Identity
February 20, 2020	Smithsonian American Art Museum Presents the First Major Museum Exhibition to Explore the Achievements of Native Women Artists at Its Renwick Gallery
February 12, 2020	Media Advisory Press Preview for First Major Exhibition to Explore the Achievements of Native Women Artists
January 30, 2020	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
January 6, 2020	Mary Savig Joins Curatorial Staff at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery

2019

December 16, 2019	Fact Sheet “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature and Culture”
November 19, 2019	Major Retrospective “Chiura Obata: American Modern” Celebrates Influential Japanese American Painter
November 12, 2019	Media Advisory Press Preview for Major Retrospective of Japanese American Artist Chiura Obata
October 21, 2019	Grace Yasumura Joins the Smithsonian American Art Museum as Inaugural Luce Foundation Curatorial Fellow
October 11, 2019	Fact Sheet "Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists"
September 26, 2019	Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces Artists To Be Featured in 2020 Renwick Invitational
July 25, 2019	Nora Atkinson Named Curator-in-Charge for the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery
July 25, 2019	Nora Atkinson, The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge, Renwick Gallery
July 18, 2019	Media Advisory - Tanya DePass Presents Keynote About Diversity in the Gaming Community
July 18, 2019	Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Annual Video Game Festival “SAAM Arcade” Builds Community by Breaking Down Barriers
July 8, 2019	Smithsonian American Art Museum Receives Major Grant for Five-Year Collaboration With Five Partner Museums Across the American West
June 27, 2019	Paisid Aramphongphan Awarded the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 2019 Terra Foundation for American Art International Essay Prize
June 20, 2019	“Ginny Ruffner: Reforestation of the Imagination” Transforms the Renwick Gallery Into a Post-Apocalyptic Haven of Hope
June 20, 2019	“Michael Sherrill Retrospective” Features Extraordinary Sculptures Inspired by Botanical Wonders
June 18, 2019	Media Advisory - Preview Exhibitions Featuring Augmented Reality and Studio Craft That Highlight the Beauty of Nature Through Botanically Inspired Sculptures
June 11, 2019	Three Smithsonian Museums Present “America Now: Celebration of Music” June 22
May 30, 2019	Media Advisory - Photo Op Smithsonian American Art Museum Kicks-Off Pride Month With Display of Rainbow Lights
May 29, 2019	“American Myth & Memory: David Levinthal Photographs” Opens June 7 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
May 29, 2019	Media Advisory - Press Preview for New Photography Exhibition That Explores Cultural Mythologizing of Iconic Symbols of American Identity
May 22, 2019	Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2019–2020 Fellowship Appointments
May 22, 2019	Smithsonian American Art Museum To Establish New Curatorial Training Fellowships With a Major Grant From the Henry Luce Foundation
May 15, 2019	Monica Steinberg Receives the 15th Annual Frost Essay Award for Her Article About George Herms
April 18, 2019	Nizan Shaked Awarded the 31st Annual Eldredge Prize for Her Book "The Synthetic Proposition: Conceptualism and the Political Referent in Contemporary Art"
March 7, 2019	“Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Examines How the Vietnam War Changed American Art
March 4, 2019	“Vietnam, Past Is Prologue” by Internationally Acclaimed Artist Tiffany Chung Opens March 15 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
March 4, 2019	Media Advisory - Press Preview for Two Exhibitions That Examine How the Vietnam War Changed America and American Art
February 25, 2019	Smithsonian American Art Museum Will Present a Series of Public Programs as Part of the 2019 National Cherry Blossom Festival
February 7, 2019	Smithsonian American Art Museum Extends Critically Acclaimed Exhibition “Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor” for Three Weeks Through April 7
February 7, 2019	“Orchids: Amazing Adaptations” Opens Feb. 16

2018

December 19, 2018	Amelia Goerlitz, Chair of Academic Programs
December 13, 2018	David Voyles Named Deputy Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
November 16, 2018	Hirshhorn, Smithsonian American Art Museum Jointly Acquire Arthur Jafa’s Breakout Work “Love is the Message, The Message is Death”
November 8, 2018	Renwick Gallery Showcases Contemporary Artists Tanya Aguiñiga, Sharif Bey, Dustin Farnsworth and Stephanie Syjuco in “Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational 2018”
October 22, 2018	Media Advisory - Press preview for new exhibition "Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational 2018"
September 25, 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
August 2, 2018	Media Advisory Press Preview for "Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor"
June 28, 2018	Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Fourth Annual “SAAM Arcade” Links Art and Video Games
June 11, 2018	“Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen” Opens June 21 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
June 7, 2018	Media Advisory Smithsonian American Art Museum and Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery Celebrate Capital Pride With Rainbow Lighting
June 4, 2018	Media Advisory Press Preview for “Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen”
May 31, 2018	Three Smithsonian Museums Present “America Now: Solstice Edition,” an After-Hours Celebration
May 22, 2018	Smithsonian American Art Museum Announces 2018–2019 Fellowship Appointments
May 9, 2018	Susan Rather Awarded the 30th Annual Eldredge Prize for Her Book The American School
May 8, 2018	Peter Betjemann Receives the 14th Annual Frost Essay Award for His Article on Robert S. Duncanson’s Literary Paintings
May 3, 2018	Saisha Grayson, Curator
May 3, 2018	Saisha Grayson Joins the Smithsonian American Art Museum as Curator of Time-Based Media
March 27, 2018	Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquires Three Masterworks by Beloved American Artist Grandma Moses
March 26, 2018	Media Advisory - Press Preview for "Diane Arbus: A box of ten photographs"
March 14, 2018	Media Advisory - Press Preview for “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” and “No Spectators: Beyond the Renwick”
March 7, 2018	“Diane Arbus: A box of ten photographs” Opens April 6 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
February 27, 2018	Mika Rottenberg Is the 2018 Winner of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s James Dicke Contemporary Artist Prize
February 22, 2018	Media Advisory: Press preview for Do Ho Suh: Almost Home
February 15, 2018	“Do Ho Suh: Almost Home” Opens March 16 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
February 14, 2018	Elizabeth A. Eisenstein and Deborah Willis Appointed to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Commission
January 11, 2018	Renwick Gallery’s First-ever Outdoor Extension Brings Art of Burning Man to DC Streets in Collaboration with Golden Triangle BID

2017

December 6, 2017	“No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” Opens March 30 at Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery
October 31, 2017	“Tamayo: Los años en Nueva York” se inaugura el 3 de noviembre en el Museo Smithsonian de Arte Americano
October 31, 2017	"Tamayo: The New York Years" Opens Nov. 3 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
October 26, 2017	Media Advisory - Press Preview for Tamayo: The New York Years
October 16, 2017	New Exhibition “Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death” Opens Oct. 20 at the Renwick Gallery
October 4, 2017	Spellbinding Exhibition “Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light” Opens Oct. 6 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
October 1, 2017	E. Carmen Ramos, Acting Chief Curator and Curator of Latinx Art
October 1, 2017	Crawford Alexander Mann III, Curator
October 1, 2017	Robin Veder, Executive Editor of "American Art"
October 1, 2017	John Jacob, The McEvoy Family Curator for Photography
October 1, 2017	Sarah Newman, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art
September 26, 2017	Media Advisory - Press Preview for Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light
September 21, 2017	Media Advisory - Press Preview for "Murder is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death" and "Rick Araluce: The Final Stop"
September 20, 2017	Crawford Alexander Mann III Is New Prints and Drawings Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
September 4, 2017	Fact Sheet: “Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)”
August 15, 2017	Fact Sheet “Tamayo: The New York Years”
August 15, 2017	Fact Sheet “Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light”
August 3, 2017	Fact Sheet “Rick Araluce: The Final Stop”
June 28, 2017	Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Third Annual “SAAM Arcade” To Feature 40 Independent Games
June 20, 2017	Susanneh Bieber Awarded the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 2017 Terra Foundation for American Art International Essay Prize