Smart News: Arts and Culture | Smithsonian Magazine

The acclaimed actor’s career spans decades

April 5, 2016

Cool Finds

Three Surprising Finds from the New Alan Lomax Archive

A new online database shares more than 17,000 recordings from the folk music archivist

April 5, 2016

Just in time for the summer

April 4, 2016

It turns out art really does change lives.

New Research

Museum Programs Affect Teens for a Lifetime

A first-of-its-kind study shows that the effects of arts programs can last well into adulthood

April 1, 2016

The late Zaha Hadid sits in front of one of her structures, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London.

Austria

Here are Seven of Zaha Hadid’s Most Stunning Structures

The architect leaves behind an astonishing legacy

April 1, 2016

University of California, Irvine students playing League of Legends.

Cool Finds

UC Irvine Becomes the First American Public University To Offer E-Sports Scholarships

The university jumps into the world of competitive gaming

March 31, 2016

“Grenzzaun halbe” referenced the country’s debate on whether or not to seal its borders

March 31, 2016

Welles' Kane was a thinly-veiled portrait of the man who tried to take him down.

Cool Finds

How Hearst Tried to Stop ‘Citizen Kane’

The newspaper mogul hated the film more than previously thought

March 30, 2016

The Library of Congress, where the subject term "illegal alien" will no longer be used.

Student activists are to thank for the change

March 29, 2016

Book hoarding has never been so lucrative.

Cool Finds

Competitive Book Collecting Is a Thing

Young bibliophiles duke it out in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest

March 29, 2016

A self-portrait made by Johnny Rotten on the walls of the studio where the Sex Pistols recorded their first demos.

Cool Finds

Johnny Rotten’s Graffiti Made These Buildings Historic Landmarks

The Sex Pistols’ home and recording studio are now protected as a cultural heritage sites

March 24, 2016

A red pigment reference from the Forbes Pigment Collection helped prove that a supposed Jackson Pollock painting was a fake.

This Could Be the World’s Most Colorful Library

Harvard’s Forbes Pigment Collection preserves some of history’s most precious colors—and helps conserve the world’s greatest art

March 24, 2016

Tom Randle plays Macheath, or “Mack the Knife,” in a production of Benjamin Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera.

Cool Finds

The Strange Career of “Mack the Knife”

As old Macheath is inducted into the National Recording Registry, here’s a look back at his long musical life

March 24, 2016

A room decorated with animal art was designed to look like a forest.

Cool Finds

This Polish Museum Exhibit Was Completely Curated By Kids

“Anything Goes” took six months and 69 children to create

March 22, 2016

Cool Finds

Roald Dahl’s Iconic Illustrator Inspired This New Font

Quentin Blake’s handwriting has elements of spontaneity and joy

March 21, 2016

Eric Underwood's Instagram rant about having to put makeup on his shoes inspired a new ballet shoe by Bloch.

Cool Finds

Flesh-Toned Ballet Shoes Will Soon Be Available for People of Color

At long last, there are options for non-white dancers

March 18, 2016

It’s hard to topple a 66-foot statue—or contend with the symbols of Ukraine’s communist past

March 18, 2016

Wacky Victorian women play behind a clothing screen, ca. 1900.

Cool Finds

Researchers Seek Silly Sherlocks to Dig up Victorian-Era Jokes

Joke detectives are using the British Library to uncover what made Victorians chuckle

March 18, 2016

Cool Finds

MAD Magazine’s Iconic Alfred E. Neuman Turns 60 This Year

The impish mascot has had a long, colorful life

March 17, 2016

Steamboat Willie, aka Mickey Mouse, one of the Disney animation cells protected from pollutants by a new artificial "nose"

New Research

A High-Tech “Nose” Will Protect Mickey Mouse and Simba During Their Visit to China

A new sensor detects tiny amounts of pollutants that can ruin artwork

March 16, 2016

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