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Archives of American Art

Poster with four images and white text on a blue background reading, “Out Front with Us: documenting solidarity.” Black text just below on a white background reads, “January 23rd, 1pm, McEvoy Auditorium.” The four images clockwise from top left are: 1. A

January Programs at the Archives of American Art

What can archives show us about solidarity today? Two programs explore legacies of activism and parenthood in art

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

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

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

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

Julia Santos Solomon inserting crosses for her In Memoriam installation, Christ Lutheran Church, Woodstock, NY, 2020. Photo by Scott Barfield.

New Collections: Pandemic Oral History Project

During the summer of 2020, the Archives of American Art initiated the Pandemic Oral History Project: 85 interviews with artists, teachers, curators, and administrators. The resulting 30 hours of video are "a significant record of an unprecedented time as it unfolded."

Jessica Esch, Totally, November 2020, 6 1/4

Treasure Trove: Archives as Inspiration

Fiber artist Barbara Lee Smith in her studio. Photo: Sam Selby

A Friendship Forged in the Archives

Robin Forbes. Marisol in her studio, ca. 1975-76 (detail). Robin Forbes slides of SoHo, 1975 - 1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Conversations Across Collections: Talking With Marisol

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