SAAM Stories

Etching of a healing scene
Artist Carmen Lomas Garza’s scenes from everyday life honor borderland culture and create community
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
photograph of artist Wes Felton
Wes Felton reminisces about his father, jazz legend Hilton Felton, and lets us in on how to freestyle like a pro.
Anne Wilsey
Program Specialist for the Luce Foundation Center
Detailed crop of Twisted Column Figure
06/22/2021
Twisting Column Figure represents the freedom that comes once we commit to unlearning and undoing restrictions, from society and from ourselves.
Nathaniel Phillips
A painting displaying many different sports
06/17/2021
Take the father figure in your life on an online tour of sports in SAAM’s collection
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
Two black and white illustrated portraits side-by-side
Artists in ¡Printing the Revolution! explore pressing issues of the LGBTQ+ community
A photograph of Claudia Zapata
Claudia Zapata
Former Curatorial Assistant of Latinx Art
Artist Timothy Horn standing on ladder next to his large chandelier sculpture made of rock sugar
Learn more about the artwork and evolving career of Timothy Horn, feature artist in Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020
A colorful opaque painting of men at a bar
06/10/2021
Bernard Perlin’s The Bar makes us reflect on the spaces we’ve carved out as our own.
Andrew Rondinone
A person with short hair stands in front of a case of prints.
Explore Dominican York Proyecto GRAFICA, a New York art collective inspired by Chicano print centers
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Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
A close-up of Kit Paulson's artwork, Lungs
Kit Paulson is currently a resident artist at the Penland School of Craft in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. She makes intricate and whimsical glassworks that embody histories of ornamentation, material culture, and natural history. SAAM is acquiring her work, Lungs.
A photograph of a woman with brown hair and a dress standing inside a building.
Mary Savig
Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft
Painting with three angel figures hovering over a battlefield
05/28/2021
Discover how a partnership between SAAM and the American Battle Monuments Commission commemorates the honor, service and sacrifice of America’s fallen in wars abroad.
photo of Yasmin Williams playing guitar while sitting in the grass
The composer and instrumentalist shares her thoughts on music and the development of her craft.
Anne Wilsey
Program Specialist for the Luce Foundation Center
WPA painting of people on a New York City subway
05/21/2021
Our video series American Art Moments takes a closer look at an important New Deal painting in SAAM’s collection
A screenprint portrait of a man from the nineteenth century
Chicanx artists elevate national and global historic figures to inspire activism
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
A bridge over water.
05/18/2021
A critical look at artistic production and the unequal distribution of benefits during the New Deal period
Grace Yasumura
A collage of illustrated portraits on brightly colored backgrounds
Artists honor victims of social injustice and create a space for communal grieving
A photograph of Carmen Ramos by Ross Whitaker
E. Carmen Ramos
Former Curator of Latinx Art
A woman in a blue mask standing in front of plants.
05/14/2021
Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director, welcomes visitors back to the museum and looks at artworks on view by Asian American artists in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
 Stephanie Stebich, SAAM's Margaret and Terry Stent Direction in the museum's Lincoln Gallery. Photo by Gene Young. 
Stephanie Stebich
The Margaret and Terry Stent Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery
Sketch by Paul Manship featuring four Angels
05/11/2021
Discover how a partnership between SAAM and the American Battle Monuments Commission revealed an unexpected connection between Paul Manship sketches and a U.S. military cemetery located outside of Rome.
Portrait in blue ink on a hankerchief
Shizu Saldamando explores identity and representation through portraiture
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist