Welcome to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery
Explore the sweep of four centuries of the the American imagination at the nation's flagship museum for American art and craft. Dive into inspiring artworks, special exhibitions, and the reimagined collection — American Voices and Visions: Modern and Contemporary Art, opening September 22. Experience our offerings both online and in person at our two locations, including national educational programs, innovative research, video interviews with artists, virtual artist studio tours, lectures, and more. Admission is always free.
Featured Exhibitions
September 15, 2023–June 2, 2024
The exhibition Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas provides an intimate view of Alma Thomas’ evolving artistic practices during her most prolific period from 1959 to her death in 1978.
September 15, 2023 — March 2024
This focused exhibition pairs artwork by two Black artists working in the mid-nineteenth century—photographer J. P. Ball and painter Robert S. Duncanson.
July 28, 2023–January 14, 2024
Ideas about the American West, both in popular culture and in commonly accepted historical narratives, are often based on a past that never was, and fail to take into account important events that actually occurred.
June 23, 2023–January 29, 2024
Musical Thinking explores the powerful resonances between recent video art and popular music.
May 26, 2023–March 31, 2024
Artists Joe Feddersen (Arrow Lakes/Okanagan), Lily Hope (Tlingit), Ursala Hudson (Tlingit), Erica Lord (Athabaskan/Iñupiat), Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy), and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) present a fresh and nuanced vision of Native American art.
Ongoing
SAAM’s branch location for contemporary craft, the Renwick Gallery, showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today. Currently on view are more than 100 works in a range of mediums from fiber and ceramics to glass, metal, wood, and mixed media.
Upcoming Featured Events
Featured Stories
09/20/2023
SAAM teamed up with the digital firm Smartify to create a series of audio tours that deepen the visitor experience, both in our galleries and online.
SAAM
09/19/2023
The development of a new laser technology allowed for the successful conservation treatment and return of this important color field painting to public view
Anna Nielsen
09/14/2023
SAAM's comic series launches ten more stories of remarkable women artists
Emma Hitchcock
09/13/2023
Uncovering the passion and power behind Angel Rodríguez-Díaz’s portraiture
SAAM
09/01/2023
The second part of an interview with Tom di Maria, director emeritus of the Creative Growth Art Center
07/07/2023
SAAM's director on current exhibitions, acquisitions, and the newly reimagined and reinstalled modern and contemporary galleries
Artist
Date2018-2020
Performance. Unique objects worn by artist/performer (glass, neoprene, rusted metal fragments of U.S./Mexico border fence, leather, cotton twine, flashlight) and photodocumentation of the performance (digital files)
Featured Video
“Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies" Introduction
Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies explores the powerful resonances between recent
"Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas" Introduction
Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas explores the life of this groundbreaking artist and educat
Welcome to American Voices and Visions
Leading contemporary artists featured in American Voices and Visions: Modern and Contemporary Art speak on the incredible power of art, and its important role in our lives and communities.