Watch last year's recordings Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
On May 20–22, 2026, the cohort of 2025–2026 Smithsonian American Art Museum Fellows will present a thought-provoking series of talks that span a range of topics, time periods, media, and messages. This multi-afternoon program offers a unique opportunity to hear from a new generation of scholars delving into the Smithsonian’s collections and archives to uncover fresh perspectives on American art. The lectures will be held in person, in the McEvoy Auditorium, and online.
Wednesday, May 20
Session I: 1–2:45 p.m. ET
Moderated by Melissa Ho, curator of twentieth-century art, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Matthew Bowman, Wyeth Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, University of Iowa, “Walter Ufer’s After Them: Taos Puebloan Waters in 1920s New Mexico”
- Diane Ahn, SAAM-APAC-Terra Predoctoral Fellow in Asian American Art, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “The ‘Problem’ of Japanese American Modernism in 1922”
- Taylor Rose Payer, Betsy James Wyeth Predoctoral Fellow in Native American Art, University of Minnesota, “‘Be a Good Relative’: Mary Sully’s Indigenous Feminisms”
Session II: 3:15–5 p.m. ET
Moderated by Robin Veder, executive editor of American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Janina López, Will Barnet Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh, “Metamorphosis to Flight: The Royal Chicano Air Force and Public Art in the City of Sacramento”
- O. M. Comstock, SAAM Predoctoral Fellow in American Craft and Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellow, University of Minnesota, “The 1974 Haystack Afro-American Summer Sessions: ‘The Black Craftsman Situation,’ Experiential Learning, and Soft Power”
- Gabrielle Christiansen, Douglass Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University, “Recuperative Reworlding from the Decay of Rebellion: Kea Tawana’s Ark (1982–88) in Newark”
Thursday, May 21
Session III: 1–2:45 p.m. ET
Moderated by Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Joseph Semkiu, Big Ten Academic Alliance/Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, University of Southern California, “War Room: Norman Rockwell’s Armchair General, Radio War News, and Masculinity on the US Home Front”
- Rose Bishop, Big Ten Academic Alliance/Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, University of Southern California, “Boyfriends for Sale: The Business of Fan Photography in Teenage Music Magazines”
- Clara Royer, Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, “Utopias of Connection? Art and Telecommunications on the Edge of Post-McLuhanism”
Session IV: 3:15–5 p.m. ET
Moderated by Sarah Newman, James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art and acting head curator, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Nicolas Heimendinger, Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellow (at the Archives of American Art), Université Paris Nanterre, “From Modernism to the Neo-Avant-Garde: The Role of New York Art Dealers in the Emergence of a New Artistic Paradigm”
- Nicole Woods, William H. Truettner Senior Fellow, Loyola Marymount University, “On Bearing Witness: Bob Thompson’s Immanent Color”
- Andrew Hansung Park, Big Ten Academic Alliance/Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles, “Different Strokes for Different Folks: Sam Gilliam’s Assemblage During the Black Arts Movement”
Friday, May 22
Session V: 1–2:45 p.m. ET
Moderated by Dalila Scruggs, Augusta Savage Curator of African American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Hampton Smith, Joe and Wanda Corn Predoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “The Protective Multiple: Gunsmithing and Black Refuge”
- Allison Bigelow, George Gurney Senior Fellow, University of Notre Dame, “Bringing the Story Full Circle: The Lifecycle of the George Rogers Clark Statue at the University of Virginia, 1921–2027”
- Allison Young, Patricia and Phillip Frost Senior Fellow, Louisiana State University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, “Visuality and the Plantationocene: Abolition Aesthetics in Louisiana”
Session VI: 3:15–4:30 p.m. ET
Moderated by Karen Lemmey, The Lucy S. Rhame Curator of Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Kim Bobier, Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Fellow, Pratt Institute, “Evidence That Bleeds: Reading the Bodily Index in David Hammons’ and Ana Mendieta’s Work as Biometric Critique”
- Tatiana Flores, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Senior Fellow, University of Virginia, “The Stakes of Mestizaje: An Intellectual History Across Borders”
Image/Credit: SAAM 2025–2026 Fellows, courtesy of subjects