Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smithsonian

Jennifer McCurdy mixes fine porcelain with gilding to create pieces full of movement and light.

24 Craft Creations That’ll Inspire You To Think Outside the Box

From fiber to glass, metal to ceramics, selections from this year’s Craft Show will inspire you

None

A Night at the Museum with the Smithsonian’s Laser Cowboys

A look at the future with Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi, who recently spent two nights scanning the Natural History Museum’s entire Dino Hall in 3D

“Classic Harmonica Blues,” out on May 21, features 20 tracks by the blues’ greatest harmonica players.

Inhaling the Blues: How Southern Black Musicians Transformed the Harmonica

A conversation with the producer of “Classic Harmonica Blues,” an album that captures a harmonica revolution

In the Amazon, María Gloria Domínguez-Bello and her team collected about 1,500 DNA samples to identify any microbe species that modern medicine may have wiped out.

Microbe Hunters

Deep in the Amazon Rainforest, scientists search for the micro-organisms that lived inside ancient humans

None

VIDEO: Earth Art on the Mall

Four artists left their mark for the Smithsonian’s first ever land art installation as part of a new exhibit about African artists and the earth

The Cyrus Cylinder is sometimes called the oldest declaration of human rights. See it on display and hear its story on Tuesday at the Sackler Gallery.

Events April 23-25: Cyrus Cylinder, Collage Art and a Craft Show

This week, hear about one of history’s most important artifacts, see how assemblage changed the definition of art and peruse crafts by 121 artists

Nick Cave’s exuberant sculpture, “Soundsuit,” from 2009 marks a recent application of assemblage.

Collage Turns 100 and Continues to Inspire

From Georges Braque to a suit of easter baskets, mixed media remains a potent form of visual expression

None

Q+A: What Is the Future of GPS? Are We Too Dependent?

Geographer Andrew Johnston discusses some of the applications and risks of the satellite-based technology, as well as its future

None

The Incredible True Story of Master Craftsman, Freedman Thomas Day

He rose to an elite status and created his own style along the way

Learn how to knit! Classes run by Smithsonian Associates start on Tuesday.

Events April 16-18: Art Classes, 19th Century Laundry and the Peacock Room

This week, learn how to knit or make pottery, appreciate how much of a luxury your washing machine is and experience the prettiest room on the Mall

Nam June Paik’s “Video Flag” (1985-96). Celebrate the avant-garde artist’s life and work on Sunday with a symposium and performance organized by some of his most prominent contemporaries.

Events April 12-14: Experimental Films, Airplanes, Nam June Paik and Cherry Blossoms!

This weekend, watch shorts from a South Korean film festival, learn about flight, celebrate the work of an avant-garde great and enjoy the cherry blossoms

None

Old Ebbets Field Opens One Hundred Years Ago Today

Revisiting a few pieces of baseball’s past

None

The Story Behind Smithsonian Castle’s Red Sandstone

Author Garrett Peck talks about uncovering the stone’s history for his new book, The Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry

See the moon up close through a 16-inch telescope this Wednesday at the Air and Space Museum’s observatory.

Events April 9-11: Tarantulas, Star Gazing and an Award-winning Film

This week, hold some creepy crawlers, look at craters on the moon and watch a film based on Joseph Conrad’s first novel

Cosmetics have a long history.

Miss Piggy, My Feather Boa and A Moment to Consider Makeup’s Greasy Past

No Fools Need Apply to the Smithsonian’s Curatorial Conference On Stuff, A Sometimes Annual Scholarly Gathering on a Subject Rarely Considered

None

Would You Like to Browse an Edo-Period Japanese Bookstore?

The brush to block revolution saw a flowering of Japanese popular culture that still intrigues and enchants

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a National Historic Landmark, was designed in the 1870s by Calvin T.S. Brent, Washington, DC’s first black architect. Learn more about famous black architects and how they shaped the city in “Master Builders”at the Anacostia Community Museum on Sunday.

Events April 5-7: Japanese Art, Poetry Month and African-American Architects

This week, experience Japanese design, celebrate poetry with your family and learn about African Americans’ roles in shaping Washington, DC’s architecture

Earthworms may play a crucial role in helping plants defend themselves from being devoured by slugs.

Earthworms: A Nightmare for America’s Orchids?

Though assumed to be great for soil, earthworms actually may be killing off orchids by ingesting their seeds

None

Play Ball (and Tunes): Sheet Music from the Game’s Early Days

From celebrating championships to begging teams to stay, baseball music has a lot more than Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Poet Marianne Moore, 81, threw out the first pitch at the opening of the 1968 baseball season at Yankee Stadium on April 10th, against the Los Angeles Angels.

Poetry Matters: In Baseball, No Poet Has Yet to Do the Game Justice

Smithsonian historian David Ward umpires the field of poetry, honoring the boys of spring, and calls a strike

Page 20 of 79