Skip to main content
Smithsonian Magazine white logo
Search Shop Newsletters Renew Give a Gift Subscribe
i

Sections

  • Smart News
  • History
  • Science
  • Innovation
  • Arts & Culture
  • Travel
  • At the Smithsonian

More from Smithsonian magazine

  • Newsletters
  • Photo Contest
  • Podcast
  • Videos

Our Partners

  • Smithsonian Store
  • Smithsonian Journeys

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Archives of American Art

Smithsonian Voices

Leo Tanguma stands in front of a large mural-in-progress that features mythical figures, revolutionaries, laborers, and other figures of Mexican and Chicano history.

Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art Announces 'Articulated' Season Four Showcasing Its Oral History Collection

Season 4 of "Articulated" chronicles the lives and work of ceramicist and textile artist Anita Fields (Osage), muralist Leo Tanguma, painter and photographer Lenore Chinn, and painter Pat Steir as they've navigated their careers over the decades

The Archives of American Art | January 27, 2025

Claudia Schiffer sitting at a table

What Does a 1990s Supermodel's Swimsuit Calendar Tell Us About Archives?

Connections between Colin de Land, the gallery space Four Walls, and Claudia Schiffer demonstrate how archival collections are interrelated

Jacob Proctor | November 16, 2023

Detail of color screenshot of Judith Bernstein in front of one of her paintings wearing a black blouse and light-colored, chunky necklace holding her hand up in a fist as if making a point in conversation.

New Collections: Oral History

Ben Gillespie, the Arlene and Robert Kogod Secretarial Scholar for Oral History, reflects on four oral history interviews recently conducted for the Archives of American Art

Ben Gillespie | March 1, 2023

Grayscale image of Robert Hughes sitting on the sloping curve of a building examining something in his hands, with a modernist church in the background.

New Collections: Robert Hughes Papers

The personal papers of art critic Robert Hughes offer insights into his seminal series "The Shock of the New"

Jacob Proctor | December 22, 2022
Cartoon for mosaic sketched on brown paper in various shades of brown, blue, terracotta, pink, and white, with stones in corresponding colors glued to the paper.

New Collections: Marjorie Kreilick Papers

The papers of artist and educator Marjorie Kreilick highlight her contribution to mosaic and public art

Josh T. Franco | November 17, 2022
Baseball cards with faces of artists superimposed on them fanned out on a desk above a blue box with text that reads ARTBALL, an image of a batter, catcher, and umpire, with a red circle that says set 1.

What If Major League Baseball Fielded a Team and the Players Were Duchamp, Calder, Marisol, O’Keeffe and Pollock?

A collection of artist baseball cards, “Artball, from the artist Don Celender, arrive in the collections just in time for the World Series

Susan Cary | October 26, 2022
Color image of white erasers in blue and white sleeves in front of a green and white mug full of pencils with a phone and jar of pens in the background next to a color image of a computer and microfilm scanner with images of scans on the screen.

The Tools We Use

For American Archives Month, Archives of American Art Staff are sharing tools, both analog and digital, they use to make collections accessible

The Archives of American Art | October 20, 2022
Still from a video of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Smith wears a black shirt with her hair pulled back, gold wire glasses, and long beaded earrings. She is sitting in front of works of art depicting maps of the United States, several in color and one in blac

New Collections: Interviews with Native Artists

Recent interviews conducted with Native artists are now part Archives of American Art's Oral History Collection

Ben Gillespie | August 18, 2022
LEFT: Grayscale photographic contact sheet with images of Connie Zehr and assistants constructing a work of art.  RIGHT: Page from a wire-bound sketchbook with a sample square of liquid polyester and notes made in pencil.

New Collections: Connie Zehr Papers and Cherie Raciti Papers

Gerald and Bente Buck West Coast Collector Matthew Simms reflects on two new collections of women artists now at the Archives of American Art.

Matthew Simms | July 14, 2022
Grayscale image of Emanuel Martínez in a dark colored shirt and apron and light coloroed pants pondering a wall mural with two large faces.

New Collections: Emanuel Martínez Papers

Josh T. Franco writes about the large addition to the Emanuel Martínez Papers, now in the collections of the Archives of American Art, illuminating Martínez'a work with incarcerated youth and involvement in the Chicano movement

Josh T. Franco | June 30, 2022
Color image of various audio recordings, some with handwritten labels.

New Collections: Michèle C. Cone Papers

The papers of art historian, critic, and curator Michèle C. Cone are now at the Archives of American Art.

Jacob Proctor | June 8, 2022
Composite image of four archival items: a photograph of a woman with her arms and legs crossed over each other, a red document with black text, a document with mineral samples and handwritten notations in ink, and an image of foil rubbings of a carpet.

How Playing With Failure Led Students to Archival Exploration

An assignment created in the Teaching with Primary Sources workshop proved that playing with failure and be fruitful, fascinating, and fun

Odette England | March 30, 2022
Benny Andrews sits at a table with a microphone, cups, and a pitcher of water with a yellow, green, and blue abstract painting hanging behind him. He is wearing a black button down shirt and raising his hands while talking.

How Artist Benny Andrews and an Archival Assignment Inspired an HBCU Student

For an assignment created in the Archives of American Art's Teaching with Primary Sources Workshop, Professor Elizabeth Hamilton had students use archives of artists with connections to HBCUs

Elizabeth Hamilton | March 24, 2022
A man points to a video screen in a classroom with students seated in the foreground.

How a Survey Course Assignment Connected Students With Contemporary Artists

Students of one Teaching with Primary Sources workshop participant forged connections with contemporary artists and their work in an assignment using the Archives of American Art's Pandemic Oral History Project

Nathan Rees | March 17, 2022
Watercolor image of mountain scene with a cloudless blue sky, trees and boulders in the foreground, and the artist’s stamp in the bottom left-hand corner.

Chiura Obata's American Landscape Art

The Chiura Obata Papers were the source for an assignment created in the Archives of American Art's Teaching with Primary Sources workshop

Michaela Rife | March 10, 2022
A photograph of a red book that reads, “Daily Reminders 1982” in white lettering. The book has yellow, green, blue, red, and orange strips of paint on it.

Join Us for On the Edge: An Event with the Archives of American Art and Bakersfield Museum of Art

Don't miss this special tour of "On the Edge: Los Angeles Art, 1970s–1990s, from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection"

The Archives of American Art | March 2, 2022
Oil painting in dark brown tones, featuring a woman sitting in a chair wearing a dark dress and holding a young boy in a sailor suit.

Letters to Cecilia Beaux From Her Young Nephews Reveal Sweet Relationship

Letters from Cecilia Beaux's young nephews reveal their own family gossip and sweet childhood stories.

Elizabeth Lamont | February 1, 2022
Detail of artwork with wayfinder symbol of family running with the word caution and machine stitching in various colors.

New Collections: Consuelo Jiménez Underwood

The papers of the fiber artist, weaver, and educator are now in the collections of the Archives of American Art

Matthew Simms | January 13, 2022
Detail of poster with grayscale image of storefront and blurry figures

New Collections: Art in General Records

The Archives of American Art now holds records documenting the nonprofit space Art in General

Jacob Proctor | December 14, 2021
Categories
  • African American History (7)
  • Animals (2)
  • Architects (1)
  • Architecture (2)
  • Archives (7)
  • Art and Activism (2)
  • Art Collectors (2)
  • Art Criticism (1)
  • Art Critics (5)
  • Art Dealers (6)
  • Art Education (3)
  • Art Galleries (8)
  • Art Historians (3)
  • Art History (13)
  • Art Schools (3)
  • Art Workers (1)
  • Artists (49)
  • Artists Collectives (2)
  • Arts Adminstrators (1)
  • Audiovisual (4)
  • Chicano Movement (1)
  • Computer Art (1)
  • Conservation (1)
  • Craft (6)
  • Curators (2)
  • Designers (5)
  • Drawing (2)
  • Engineering (1)
  • Exhibitions (2)
  • Fashion (3)
  • Film (3)
  • Holidays (2)
  • Landscape Painting (2)
  • Mail Art (2)
  • Mixed Media (2)
  • Modernism (art) (2)
  • Mosaic (1)
  • Murals (5)
  • New Collections (2)
  • Non-profit Art Spaces (1)
  • Oral History Interviews (8)
  • Painters (9)
  • Painting (10)
  • Photography (10)
  • Poetry (2)
  • Printmaking (3)
  • Public Art (2)
  • Sculpture (6)
  • Scultpure (1)
  • Sports (1)
  • Textiles (2)
  • Theatre (1)
  • Travel (2)
  • Video Art (1)
  • Weaving (1)
  • World War II (2)
  • Writers (1)
Archive
  • 2017 (7)
  • 2018 (35)
  • 2019 (12)
  • 2020 (14)
  • 2021 (10)
  • 2022 (15)
  • 2023 (3)
  • 2025 (1)

Page 1 of 5

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next  
Smithsonian Magazine Logo in white on the site footer

Follow Us

Explore

  • Smart News
  • History
  • Science
  • Innovation
  • Arts & Culture
  • Travel
  • At the Smithsonian
  • Photo Contest
  • Podcast
  • Video

Subscription

  • Subscribe
  • Give a gift
  • Renew
  • Manage My Account

Newsletters

  • Sign Up

About

  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Content Licensing
  • FAQ
  • Feedback
  • Internships & Employment
  • Member Services
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • Staff

Our Partners

  • Smithsonian.com
  • Smithsonian Store
  • Smithsonian Journeys
  • Smithsonian Channel
  • Smithsonian Books
  • Smithsonian Membership

© 2025 Smithsonian Magazine Privacy Statement Cookie Policy Terms of Use Advertising Notice Your Privacy Rights Cookie Settings