Visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Hours and Location
Temporarily closed
Free Admission
8th and G Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Planning Your Visit
SAAM is located at Eighth and G streets N.W., above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station and is accessible from Green, Yellow, and Red metro lines. At SAAM, ramps are located on both sides of the 8th and G Streets NW entrance.
There is limited on-street parking at meters; several paid parking garages are available in the neighborhood.
Exhibitions at SAAM
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¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now
Reopening 2021Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)In the 1960s, activist Chicano artists forged a remarkable history of printmaking that remains vital today. Many artists came of age during the civil rights, labor, anti-war, feminist and LGBTQ+ movements and channeled the period’s social activism into assertive aesthetic statements that announced a new political and cultural consciousness among people of Mexican descent in the United States. ¡Printing the Revolution! explores the rise of Chicano graphics within these early social movements and the ways in which Chicanx artists since then have advanced innovative printmaking practices attuned to social justice. -
New on View: Dawoud Bey and William H. Johnson
Reopening 2021Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)This focused installation features recently acquired photographs by Dawoud Bey in conversation with a painting by William H. Johnson that refer to the Underground Railroad. -
Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture
Reopening 2021Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)This exhibition reveals how the influential naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) shaped American perceptions of nature and the way American cultural identity became grounded in our relationship with the environment.
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The Automobile and American Art
Reopening 2021Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)Take a road trip through SAAM’s collection to find links between automobiles and American art, inspired by Albert H. Small’s gift of model cars.
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Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists
Reopening 2021Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists examines representations of buffalo and their integration into the lives of Native Americans on the Great Plains in the 1830s and in the twentieth century. -
Sculpture Down to Scale: Models for Public Art at Federal Buildings, 1974–1985
Reopening 2021Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)Artists used preliminary models—or maquettes—to communicate their ideas. Varied in scale, format, and level of finish, the nine models in this exhibition offer windows into the creative process, with work by Jackie Ferrara, Sol LeWitt, Claes Oldenburg, and Beverly Pepper, among others.
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Galleries for Folk and Self-Taught Art
Reopening 2021Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G Streets, NW)SAAM’s collection of folk and self-taught art represents the powerful vision of America’s untrained and vernacular artists. Represented in the museum’s collection are pieces that draw on tradition—such as quilts—as well as artworks that reveal a more personal vision.
Visiting with Young Children
For activities for all ages, see Family Activities. There are elevators and ramps throughout the museum to accommodate strollers. Changing stations are available in all of the museum’s restrooms.
The museum café has a limited children’s menu. The museum store has a variety of educational toys, children’s books, and supplies for young artists.
Accessibility
Barrier-free access and restrooms are available at both buildings. At SAAM, ramps are located on both sides of the 8th and G Streets NW entrance. Service animals are welcome. The Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium contains wheelchair spaces available during performances and lectures, and the auditorium is equipped with an induction hearing loop and T-coil infrared assistive listening system. If you are using MetroAccess Paratransit, please use 800 G Street NW as the address for our building. More information on accessibility at the museums
Telephone Numbers
Museum Information (recorded): (202) 633-7970
General Smithsonian Visitor Information: (202) 633-1000