Note: All submitted events must be approved before they appear in the calendar.
Hear from professionals who work in the arts, then sharpen your own creative skills with a hands-on activity related to the speaker’s expertise. Please register online at AmericanArt.si.edu/calendar ($10 materials […]
Hear from professionals who work in the arts, then sharpen your own creative skills with a hands-on activity related to the speaker’s expertise. Please register online at AmericanArt.si.edu/calendar ($10 materials […]
Hear from professionals who work in the arts, then sharpen your own creative skills with a hands-on activity related to the speaker’s expertise. Please register online at AmericanArt.si.edu/calendar ($10 materials […]
A virtual film festival highlighting groundbreaking women filmmakers and issues of climate change, political activism, global pandemics, and more. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is presenting its third annual Women […]
Curious about American art? Join us for a 30-minute virtual conversation about selected works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection. This program is presented in American Sign Language (ASL) […]
Virtual Cherry Blossom Celebration Saturday, March 20, 10 a.m. ET Celebrate the start of spring and the National Cherry Blossom Festival with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Join us for […]
¡Printing the Revolution! Virtual Conversation Series: The Legacy of Printmaking Thursday, March 25, 6:30 p.m. ET Chicanx artists and print centers have welcomed, nurtured, and collaborated with non Chicanx artists from […]
Podcast Release: Luce Listening Party with Lightmare FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2021 Luce Unplugged has gone digital! Tune in for a podcast episode featuring the soulpunk arrangements of Lightmare in conversation […]
Art & Me Preservation Family Workshop: Celebrating Cherry Blossoms Saturday, March 27, 10–10:45 a.m. ET Celebrate the arrival of spring and the beloved cherry blossoms with a festive virtual family […]
Thursday, April 8, 7 p.m. ET Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a virtual conversation featuring author and professor Alexander Nemerov. Learn more about Nemerov’s most recent publication Fierce Poise: Helen […]
Wednesday, April 14, 7:00 p.m. ET Grab some colorful duct tape and register now for the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s popular crafting happy hour! Join us for a live crafting […]
Friday, April 23 Luce Unplugged has gone digital! Tune in for a podcast episode featuring singer-songwriter Jenna Camille in conversation with Paul Vodra and Anthony Porreco of Hometown Sounds. Jenna Camille’s background in improvisational jazz brings […]
Thursday, April 29, 7:00 p.m. ET Discover the wonders of the celestial world with Lauren Fensterstock, one of the artists featured in Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020. Fensterstock is joined by […]
Virtual May Day Family Celebration Saturday, May 1, 10 a.m. ET Celebrate spring and learn more about art and environmental conservation with our virtual May Day family program. Explore how […]
Wednesday, May 5, 2 p.m. ET Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a virtual program designed for art lovers with mild to moderate dementia and their care partners. Enjoy […]
Wednesday, May 5, 7 p.m. ET Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a virtual conversation featuring author and arts leader Adair Margo. Learn more about Margo’s most recent publication, Voices of […]
Wednesday, May 12, 2:30–5 p.m. ET Thursday, May 13, 2:30–5 p.m. ET Friday, May 14, 2:30–5 p.m. ET Join the 2020–2021 class of Smithsonian American Art Museum research fellows as […]
Thursday, May 13, 5:30 p.m. ET Curious about American art? Join us for a 30-minute gallery conversation about selected works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection. This program is […]
Thursday, May 13, 6:30 p.m. ET The digital realm defines a new chapter of Chicanx graphics. Artists use technologically based artwork to critique Big Tech, as well as distribute digital […]
The Smithsonian American Art Museum and its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, reopen to the public Friday, May 14. This is the second reopening of the museum following closures on […]
Thursday, May 20, 7 p.m. ET Enjoy a behind-the-scenes virtual studio tour and artwork demonstration by Rowland Ricketts, one of the artists featured in Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020. Discover more about Ricketts’s work and his holistic creative process. From farming his own indigo to dyeing and aging the fabric, Ricketts looks to nature for inspiration […]
Sunday, May 23, 1–2 p.m. ET Venture beyond the studio with DC artist Marcella Kriebel. Register now for this engaging Zoom workshop and learn the basics of watercolor and illustration techniques, then try your hand at making your own masterpiece. Kriebel is known for her culinary watercolor paintings and murals throughout DC, which include collaborations with […]
Free Week-Long Virtual Event Celebrates Community and Individuality in Gaming The Smithsonian American Art Museum will present its annual “SAAM Arcade” online this year and, for the first time, in […]
Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum for an engaging virtual lecture with award-winning filmmaker Leslie Thornton. Learn how Thornton, with her decades-long episodic film epic Peggy and Fred in Hell […]
August 5, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. ET Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum for an engaging virtual lecture with award-winning filmmaker Leslie Thornton. Learn how Thornton, with her decades-long episodic film […]
SAAM Arcade is back and online this year! Join us for a day of virtual play and be the first to discover the latest independent games created during SAAM’s inaugural game […]
America InSight Online: Verbal Description Tours Thursday, September 2, 5:30 p.m. ET Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum online for a docent-led tour designed for participants who are blind or […]
Take a journey lead by the creative powerhouse, Fred Wilson, during this captivating virtual lecture. Listen as he traces his artistic career and process through many decades, mediums, and techniques. Wilson is known for challenging assumptions of history, culture, race, and conventions of display by reframing objects and cultural symbols, altering traditional interpretations, and encouraging […]
Museums are powered by professionals with wide-ranging backgrounds—from historians and scientists to accountants, attorneys, computer programmers, and graphic designers. Join staff members from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and Smithsonian Gardens for an engaging virtual conversation about the changing landscape of the museum field and the need for greater diversity among the professional staff. […]
Examine the enduring impact of colonialism and orientalism within the mainstream history of modernism with scholar Nada Shabout. During this captivating virtual talk, discuss efforts to decolonize the field of […]
Discover the magnificent Scandinavian landscapes and other European-based paintings created by celebrated Harlem Renaissance painter William H. Johnson. Take a deep dive into this often overlooked and misunderstood period in […]
Walls of Respect is a new documentary honoring the life and work of Norman Parish, Jr., whose Georgetown gallery showcased international African-American art when few galleries did the same. This film will explore Parish's artistic legacy through interviews with past exhibitors, family, friends, collectors, and art professionals, and the impact of Parish's work on artists […]
You are cordially invited to the preview of Walls of Respect: Norman Parish and the Parish Art Gallery, a new documentary about the legacy of the acclaimed artist and activist […]
John Yau is an art critic, poet, fiction writer, and freelance curator. His talk will feature two artists, Frederic Church and Thomas Nozkowski, who both spent significant time in the […]
Curious about American art? Join us for a 30-minute virtual conversation about selected works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection. This program is presented in American Sign Language (ASL) […]
How can artwork help all students access core learning? Differentiated instruction allows teachers to adapt content, process, and products to students’ needs. Collaborate with colleagues and uncover how artwork can […]
Something old, something new! Compare how ceramics are made today, in the past, and across the globe! Learn how conservators care for ceramics during this virtual family workshop. Attendees then […]
Join SAAM’s research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one […]
Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum in celebrating Día de los Muertos! Bring the whole family to see exciting live performances from Ballet Folklorico Mi Herencia Mexicana, Mariachi Aguila DC, […]
People are all different. Our bodies, families, beliefs, abilities, and experiences vary, sometimes making communication difficult. Artwork can often communicate what we do not have the words for across cultures […]
Scholar Julia Bryan-Wilson considers how women of color artists like Pacita Abad and Rosie Lee Tompkins have used embellishment as a strategy to blur the lines between function and decor. […]
Join SAAM's research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one […]
Ring in the Lunar New Year at SAAM! Join us for our annual celebration featuring Chinese and Korean traditions, including performances, crafts, food, and more. Learn about the importance of […]
Join us for a family friendly look at James Hampton’s Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly with Lunder Conservation Fellow Objects Conservator Katya Zinsli. Explore […]
Wednesday, May 17-Friday, May 19, 2023 1 – 5pm EDT (daily) Join the 2022–2023 class of Smithsonian American Art Museum research fellows as they present new scholarship on a range […]
Join us for the return of our popular "Take 5! Jazz at SAAM" program. Beat the heat and relax in the Kogod Courtyard. Kicking off our program series is Washington, […]
Join SAAM’s research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one […]
Celebrate with your chosen family at SAAM’s Pride Family Day in the Kogod Courtyard and march to the beat of DC’s Different Drummers. Then dance to the sounds of Afro-Brazilian […]
Join artist Carlos Carmonamedina of DC is my City for a live-sketching workshop using your personal iPad and digital graphics apps such as ProCreate, Adobe Fresco, and MediBang. After a […]
Celebrate a uniquely American art form with Take 5: Jazz at SAAM, a series of free, live performances in SAAM’s airy Kogod Courtyard. This month features Sarah Elizabeth Charles, a […]
Join "Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023" artists Erica Lord (Athabaskan/ Iñupiat) and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) in conversation with guest curator, Lara Evans (Cherokee Nation). Thompson, a fiber artist and designer who derives inspiration from her Ojibwe heritage, explores family history and broader themes relating to her Native American experience in […]
Interdisciplinary artist Cauleen Smith kicks off the annual Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series. Smith explores African American identity through her work, particularly in films such as Sojourner, featured in SAAM’s current exhibition Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies. She describes her work as a reflection on “the everyday possibilities of the imagination,” drawing […]
Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to hear from legendary artist Carrie Mae Weems, joined in conversation by Saisha Grayson, SAAM’s curator of time-based media, to discuss her new exhibition "Carrie Mae Weems: Looking Forward, Looking Back". Described as an icon, national treasure, and genius, Weems is a moral compass in the field, entwining art and […]
Join SAAM’s curatorial and conservation staff for a series of gallery talks exploring the newly reimagined and reinstalled modern and contemporary art galleries, as well as a look at our special exhibitions, Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea and Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies. These projects highlight many voices—including artists who […]
Go in-depth with Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media at SAAM, as she discusses the years-long curatorial process behind Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies. Learn about her reasons for featuring selected artists and video art, with a special focus on auditory artworks and how they merge together in this evocative and emotionally […]
Join SAAM’s research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one tells us about America’s ever-changing culture. Kelly-Christina Grant, the Terra Foundation Predoctoral Fellow in American Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, discusses Loïs Mailou […]
New score performed live by Matthew Nolan and Erik Friedlander The Blood of a Poet (Le Sang d'un Poète), the first part of Jean Cocteau’s Orphic Trilogy, is considered one […]
