Eye Level

Eye Level is the blog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery. Publishing behind-the-scenes museum stories since 2005.

• 

  We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists Featured in the National Collection

  Discover how the creativity and bold self-definition of untrained artists became major forces in American art.

  SAAM on June 29, 2022

Performing Ambiguity: The Art of Tseng Kwong Chi

In his all too short career, the photographer rejected conventional codes of identity and insisted on new, ambiguous conditions of being.

From the Collection

Pride

New Acquisitions

Melissa on June 23, 2022

Contemporary Craft in Focus: The Queer Houses of Brooklyn

Artist L.J. Roberts integrates queer theory with traditional “domestic crafts” such as knitting and embroidery.

Contemporary Craft

Exhibitions

From the Collection

Pride

SAAM on June 15, 2022

Artists, Friends, Lovers: Paul Cadmus and George Tooker

Celebrating Pride with paintings by two artists whose lives intersected and whose artworks explore similar themes

Exhibitions

From the Collection

Pride

Howard on June 9, 2022

Closing the Gender Gap: Seeing American Women Sculptors in Wikipedia

Online volunteers learn the basics of how to edit Wikipedia by creating or updating articles related to the history of fifty women sculptors in the United States

Technology

Kelly Doyle and Sonoe Nakasone on June 3, 2022

Drawn to Romaine Brooks

Celebrating the renowned artist with a comic about her life and work

Pride

Howard on June 1, 2022

Contemporary Craft in Focus: Warrior with Color Face

Sculptor Wanxin Zhang explores history, politics, and culture through clay

Contemporary Craft

Exhibitions

From the Collection

SAAM on May 20, 2022

This Present Moment is Here and Now

New exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of SAAM’s Renwick Gallery

Contemporary Craft

Exhibitions

SAAM on May 13, 2022

Crafting a Better World

SAAM’s director on the exhibition This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World

Contemporary Craft

Stephanie on May 12, 2022

Contemporary Craft in Focus: Harlem Hellfighters

Learn more about artist Bisa Butler's vivid portraits of African American heroes from World War I

Contemporary Craft

From the Collection

New Acquisitions

SAAM on May 2, 2022

Podcast Release: Music and Conversation with Broke Royals

SAAM's Luce Foundation Center is teaming up with DC local music podcast Hometown Sounds to bring you music and conversations from your favorite artists.

Luce Foundation Center

Anne on April 28, 2022

Why I Am Not a Painter: on Michael Goldberg's Sardines

What happens when poet Frank O'Hara walks into Mike Goldberg's studio while he's working on a painting?

From the Collection

Howard on April 21, 2022

Refreshing a View of Venice: How Paper Conservators Clean a Print

SAAM conservator Kate Maynor explains the delicate process of washing paper

Exhibitions

Conservation

Kate Maynor on April 14, 2022

Depicting Love in Diane Arbus’s A woman with her baby monkey, 1971

An unexpected email reveals more about the subject of one of Diane Arbus’s celebrated portraits

From the Collection

John on April 7, 2022

A Fragile Roman Mosaic Glass Bowl Reveals Its Secrets

Go behind-the-scenes with conservators who make a fascinating discovery about a rarely seen Roman glass bowl

Exhibitions

Conservation

Katya Zinsli on April 1, 2022

Exploring the American Psyche with Carrie Mae Weems

On the multimedia installation, Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me, recently acquired by SAAM

From the Collection

New Acquisitions

Saisha on March 29, 2022

Building a Web of Knowledge Through Wikidata

This Women's History Month, learn how SAAM is using open data platforms to increase the visibility of artists represented in the collection

Technology

Sonoe Nakasone on March 25, 2022

Podcast Release: Music and Conversation with Astra Via

SAAM's Luce Foundation Center is teaming up with DC local music podcast Hometown Sounds to bring you music and conversations from your favorite artists.

Luce Foundation Center

Five Question Interviews

Anne on March 24, 2022

Through the Lens of Photographer Linda Rich

A look into the daily lives of women living in one close-knit Baltimore neighborhood

Exhibitions

From the Collection

Krystle Stricklin on March 22, 2022