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Art

Eight Innovators to Watch in 2017

Meet original thinkers who are breaking ground in medicine, art, drone design, fighting climate change and more

Tens of thousands of sticky notes were used to create the communal artwork/therapy session.

Cool Finds

New Yorkers’ Post-Election Post-its Will Be Preserved

Subway Therapy captured a city’s outpouring of emotion. Now, the notes New Yorkers left behind will be archived

New York's shrine to the performing arts has never seen a dancer quite like this.

Cool Finds

A Huge Bronze Hippo in a Tutu Is Coming to Lincoln Center

Her name is Hippo Ballerina, and she’s sure to make theatergoers do a double-take

Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, 2016

This Great Pumpkin Heralds the D.C. Arrival of Yayoi Kusama

The Hirshhorn’s 65-year retrospective boasts six mirror rooms by this hugely popular artist

Radio Nurse by Isamu Noguchi, 1937

The Innovative Spirit fy17

After the Tragic Lindbergh Kidnapping, Artist Isamu Noguchi Designed the First Baby Monitor

The six-decade career of the artist and commercial designer is on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Want to See Installation Artist Doug Aitken’s Latest Work? Grab Your Scuba Gear

Morbid Anatomy Museum Closes Its Doors

But the museum that delights in the dead will have an afterlife

A jar of the world's pinkest pink paint pigment.

Cool Finds

This Artist Is the Only Person Banned From Using the World’s Pinkest Pink

It’s a brightly colored revenge for restricting the world’s blackest black

Trending Today

Wonder Woman’s UN Ambassadorship Is Already Coming to an End

The super hero’s tenure as an advocate for empowering women and girls ends after less than two months

This Christmas, St. Peter's Square has a tree, a nativity scene and a message about refugees.

Trending Today

Pope’s New Nativity Scene Raises Awareness of Worldwide Refugee Crisis

It’s a lavish display complete with a plea for racial tolerance

"An open line of communication and mutual exchange can ensure that grassroots operations are able to thrive in increasingly challenging urban arenas."

Commentary

In the Aftermath of Oakland’s Tragedy, How Museums Can Better Serve Local Arts and DIY Venues

One Smithsonian curator weighs in on new best practices for outreach

Gene Davis at work on his painting Franklin's Footpath, created on the street outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1972.

The Painter Who Earned His Stripes

Gene Davis, the leading member of the Washington Color School, is celebrated a half century after his striped paintings caught on

This Egon Schiele painting, Portrait of Wally, was looted during World War II and became the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the 2000s after it was exhibited in New York.

Trending Today

Reclaiming Nazi-Looted Art Is About to Get Easier

HEAR Act removes legal loopholes that prevented victims of Nazi art plunder to restore what’s rightfully theirs

The new work is nearly 21 feet tall and weights almost 900 pounds.

Evoking a Ship’s Rippling Sail, This New Sculpture Aims to Make Global Connections

The African Art Museum at its first award ceremony recognizes two international artists who have overcome personal hardships to excel

A visualization of Eyal Gever's #Laugh art project

Future of Space Exploration

This Artist Wants to Send a Sculpture of Your Laughs Into Space

#Laugh is on orbit to become the first art piece created in space

The Raft, May 2004, Video/sound installation

Keep an Eye on These Portraits Because They Move

Noted visual artist Bill Viola is subject of the first all-video exhibition in one of D.C.’s oldest buildings.

We asked Smithsonian scholars to make book recommendations to our readers for this holiday season of gift giving.

Increase and Diffuse Knowledge for the Holidays With These Smithsonian Curated Books

Books recommended by Smithsonian Institution scholars

“Current” would turn the entire stretch of the river into a dynamic, multi-colored piece of art.

Cool Finds

Ambitious New Public Art Project Will Turn the Thames Into an Illuminated Canvas

When Illuminated River launches in 2018, it will be the biggest such project ever undertaken

Five Colossal Stone Portraits Around the World

Carved out of rock, these massive monuments go beyond Mount Rushmore

Sonny Assu Uses Graffiti to Reassert Native Culture

The 41-year-old artist mashes decades-old depictions of indigenous peoples with modern-day style

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