Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Liza Kirwin

Liza Kirwin is Interim Director of the Archives of American Art, a position she previously held from 2011 to 2013. She has also served as Southeast regional collector, curator of manuscripts, and deputy director. She is the author of numerous books and articles that convey the intrinsic value and immediacy of primary sources. Liza earned a PhD in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Stories from this author

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.557, Wall-Mounted Tied Wire, Closed Center Twelve-Petaled Form Based on Nature), bronze wire, 38 x 38 x 12 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2011.39.

Conversations Across Collections: Ruth Asawa at the Ankrum Gallery, 1962

Liza Kirwin explores an early and important exhibition of Ruth Asawa's sculptures, held at Ankrum Gallery in 1962.

A participant from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum's

Understanding the Power of Primary Sources through Home, Hand, and Heart

Primary sources provide learners of all ages with opportunities for deep engagement. Staff from across the Smithsonian share memorable moments in their work that have helped audiences activate their senses, make deep connections to people of the past and see their own home in new ways.

Details from LEFT: Oscar Bluemner, Self-Portrait, 1933, oil on panel, 19 3/4 x 14 3/4 in. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. RIGHT: Oscar Bluemner. Oscar Bluemner. Notes for self-portrait from painting diary, 1933. Oscar Blumner papers, 1886-1939. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Conversations Across Collections: Oscar Bluemner in Color

Martin Johnson Heade, Black-eared Fairy, ca. 1863-1864, oil on canvas, 12 1/4 x 10 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.89. Photography by Dwight Primiano.

Conversations Across Collections: Martin Johnson Heade’s Notebook on Hummingbirds

Portrait of the Tarbell family and their dogs, circa 1905, Edmund C. Tarbell papers, circa 1855-circa 2000, bulk 1885-1938. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Through Flood and Fire: Why Archives Preserve

Rockwell Kent with a group of dogs (detail), circa 1940 / unidentified photographer. Rockwell Kent paper, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Dog Days of Summer