Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery

Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago, Flower, 2007, video game for SONY PS3, color, sound, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of thatgamecompany, 2013.70, © 2008 Sony Computer Entertainment American LLC. Flower is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC. Developed by thatgamecompany.

Building Community Through Video Games

Chris Totten reflects on how the gaming community around SAAM Arcade has grown since the first event debuted seven years ago

Angel Rodríguez-Díaz, The Protagonist of an Endless Story, 1993, oil on canvas, 72 x 57 7/8 in. (182.9 x 147.0 cm.), Museum purchase made possible in part by the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1996.19, © 1993, Angel Rodriguez-Diaz.

Exhibition Showcases How Artists Challenge Mythic Conceptions of the American West

Now on tour! <em>Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea</em>, a collaboration among SAAM and four partner museums, offers counterviews of “the West” and showcases modern and contemporary artists who are who are reclaiming the narratives of their region.

Photo by Darren Milligan

SAAM Arcade 2021: What Is a Game Jam?

SAAM Arcade is back with a new virtual program format, the museum’s first-ever Game Jam. Learn more about what a game jam is in this blog post!

Oree Originol, Justice for Kayla Moore and Justice for Layleen Polanco, from Justice for Our Lives, 2014-2020, 78 digital images, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Patricia Tobacco Forrester Endowment, 2020.51A-MM, © 2014, Oree Originol.

Chicanx Queer Visions: Fighting for Change and Exploring Identity

Artists in SAAM's exhibition <em>¡Printing the Revolution!</em> explore pressing issues of the LGBTQ+ community

Claggett Wilson, Saviors of France--Jeanne d'Arc, St. Louis, Clovis and the Hands of the Common Soldier, ca. 1919, watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1981.163.13

Discoveries from the Collection: Honoring Sacrifice this Memorial Day with U.S. Military Cemetery Historian

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.

Oree Originol, Justice for Our Lives, 2014-Present, 78 digital images, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Patricia Tobacco Forrester Endowment, 2020.51A-MM, © 2014, Oree Originol. Photo of Installation by Albert Ting.

Protest and Remembrance: Chicanx Artists Confront Police Brutality

Artists honor victims of social injustice and create a space for communal grieving

Paul Manship, Four Angels (sketch for Altar Triptych, American Military Cemetery, Anzio, Italy), ca. 1955, pen and ink and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Paul Manship, 1966.47.147

Discoveries from the Collection: Honoring Service and Sacrifice in American Art

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.

Eric J. García, Chicano Codices #1: Simplified Histories: The U.S. Invasion of Mexico 1846-1848, 2015, offset lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Lichtenberg Family Foundation, 2020.21.1R-V, © 2020, Eric J. García

Chicano Artists Challenging History and Reclaiming Cultural Memory

Chicano artists use graphics to reframe history with new perspectives

Alma Thomas, Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze, 1973, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 1980.36.9

Five Women Changemakers in American Art

Celebrating Women’s History Month by illuminating the stories of women who challenged both what art could be and who could be an artist

Untitled (Old Maid's Puzzle). Holmes County, Ohio, circa 1930. This is the first quilt the Brown’s purchased, in 1976, that started their Amish quilt collection.

The Graphic Appeal of Amish Quilts

Celebrating National Quilting Day with a gift of Amish quilts

Unidentified, Untitled (Side with the Farmworkers), front and reverse views, c. 1973, screenprint on computer tractor paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Margaret Terrazas Santos Collection, 2019.52.4

From Recycling to Revolution: Alternative Media in Chicanx Protest Art

How Chicanx protest artists in the 1970s used discarded materials in their work

Lauren Fensterstock, The totality of time lusters the dusk, 2020, glass, Swarovski crystal, quartz, obsidian, onyx, hematite, paper, Plexiglas, wood, cement, lath, and mixed media, dimensions variable, (Courtesy Claire Oliver Gallery. Photo by Ron Blunt)

Lauren Fensterstock in Focus: Finding Inspiration in the End of the World

New artwork explores how weather and celestial activity have been used as metaphor

Julia Kwon’s interactive art projects facilitate solidarity and community

Making the Most: In the Studio with Julia Kwon

Julia Kwon’s interactive art projects facilitate solidarity and community

Robert S. Duncanson,

Celebrating Black History Month, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Duncanson

Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director, shares her thoughts about Black History Month, Martin Luther King, Jr. and hope for American democracy.

Xavier Viramontes,

Chicano Graphic Arts and the Making of the Landmark Exhibition "¡Printing the Revolution!"

Exploring the origins of the exhibition that combines innovative printmaking practices with social justice

Robert S. Duncanson,

Inauguration Highlights Rainbow Painting by African American Artist

Curator Eleanor Harvey shares the story of Robert Duncanson and his artwork

Janet Echelman,

Looking for Light in American Art

View artworks from the collection that illuminate our world

Will Cotton,

Top Ten Favorite Holiday Movies as Seen in American Art

What is cozier than watching old holiday movies on a chilly winter’s night? Pairing them up with favorite artworks from SAAM's collection, that’s what.

Wayne Thiebaud,

Happy Birthday Wayne Thiebaud!

Reflecting on the artist’s “light and color and joy and humor,” and his nudge to look closer and think harder about the world that surrounds us

Keara Teeter treating William H. Johnson’s Historical Scene with Mary McLeod Bethune, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation. Photo by Lou Molnar

Unpacking and Preserving William H. Johnson's 'Fighters for Freedom' Series

Explore William H. Johnson’s powerful “Fighters for Freedom” series through the lens of a conservator.

Categories
Archive

Page 3 of 6