Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Artists

Learn the story behind Dale Chihuly's Blanket Cylinder Series at the Renwick Gallery.

Events January 17-19: The Loving Story, Blanket Cylinder Series and Beat the Blues

Still from Ali Kazma's "O.K.," 2010

The Hirshhorn Turns Labor Into Art with “Black Box: Ali Kazma”

Turkish video artist Ali Kazma captures the actions of a man who seems to be the most efficient stamper of paper ever at the Hirshhorn’s Black Box Theater

See Warhol through an artist's eyes in Talking With Andy on January 11

Events January 10-12: Mission Impossible, Talking about Andy, Webby Talk

This week, experience Mission: Impossible in IMAX, rediscover the iconic work of Andy Warhol, and learn about the most innovative work happening on the Web

Morse's 1837 telegraph receiver prototype, built with a canvas-stretcher

How Samuel Morse Got His Big Idea

On this day in 1838, Samuel Morse publicly demonstrated his telegraph for the first time. But how did he get the idea in the first place?

Come make your own stamp collection at a drop-in workshop at the Postal Museum.

Weekend Events Jan 6-8: “This is Not a Film,” Stamps, Masterworks of Three Centuries

This weekend, watch an Iranian film, attend a stamp collecting workshop or listen to eclectic Baroque chamber music

The rusted three-story hubcap- and bicycle-based Cathedral of Junk was created by Vince Hannemann, a South Austin guy who decided his backyard was as good a place as any to build a cathedral.

Keeping it Weird in Austin, Texas

Aren’t the residents of the proudly hip city of Austin, Texas, just traditionalists at heart?

The Luce Foundation Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Events Dec. 27-29: Winter Break Programs, Camp Kwanzaa

This week, take part in the Portrait Gallery’s special winter break and celebrate Kwanzaa

Learn about writer and art collector Gertrude Stein as part of the Portrait Story Days series.

Weekend Events Dec. 23-25: ArtLab+ Showcase, Portrait Story Days, and Christmas

This week, see young people’s creative works, learn about Gertrude Stein, and have a merry Christmas

A model of Conrad F. Bartling's 1888 fence-building machine

The Return of Patent Models to the Original Patent Office Building

A new exhibition at the American Art Museum features models of a variety of unusual 19th-century devices

Enjoy an acoustic performance by John Davis of the DC-based group Title Tracks.

Weekend Events Dec. 16-18: Happy Feet Two, All About Me in D.C., and Title Tracks Unplugged

This week, see Happy Feet Two in 3D, meet a children’s author, and enjoy an acoustic performance by a local indie frontman

Meet Oglala Lakota Angela Babby, the creator of "Mountain Chief" and other enameled mosaic works.

Events Dec. 12-15: Seasons of Light, The Expert Is In, Day With the Artists, and Holiday Jazz

This week, see a holiday performance, talk to a bird expert, meet a pair of Native artists, and attend a jazz concert

See the 2010 Thai hit "Eternity" at the Freer Gallery

Weekend Events Dec. 9-11: Eternity, Super Science Saturday and Sara Daneshpour

This week, see a critically-lauded Thai film, attend a hands-on day of aviation activities, and hear a live concert pianist perform

A frame from "Empire," Warhol's 1964 film

Visions of Empire at the Hirshhorn

A new exhibition combines a seminal Warhol film with a pair of modern responses

The Portrait Gallery's Model Hall is an "architectural boast of the first order."

Amy Henderson: American History On-Site in Washington, DC

The Portrait Gallery’s Cultural Historian Amy Henderson discusses the sites and scenes on a walking tour of Washington, D.C.

The Hirshhorn Museum is illuminated red in honor of World AIDS Day

Hirshhorn Goes Red for World AIDS Day

The distinctive building is Washington, D.C.’s first structure to be illuminated red for the annual occasion

Books on Bike Perfection and Women’s Bike-Won Freedom

Women’s clothing was a problem, and to efficiently ride a bike there was only one thing to do: Take it off

World War II veteran Chief Joseph Medicine Crow, a featured speaker of the "Native Americans in the Military" panel.

Weekend Events Dec. 2-4: Native Americans in the Military, Dress to Empress Soiree and All About Body Art

Join a panel of Natives who have served in the armed forces, spend the night at an exclusive Chinese-themed soiree, and explore the world of tattoos

In Robert Walter Weir’s c. 1838 canvas of St. Nicholas (detail), perhaps influenced by a Washington Irving story, the painter envisioned both an enigmatic trickster and a dispenser of holiday cheer.

A Mischievous St. Nick from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

The 19th-century artist Robert Walter Weir took inspiration from Washington Irving to create a prototype of Santa Claus

The Anamorphose

Is a “Garden” the World’s Greatest New Artwork?

Francois Abelanet’s extraordinary turf “sculpture” on a Paris plaza epitomizes a grand tradition of artful illusion

Beth Lipman's sculpture "Bancketje," is on view at the Renwick.

The List: Five Feasts in American Art

In honor of Thanksgiving Day, we present a wide array of feasts found in the Smithsonian’s art collections

Page 83 of 117