John Gossage: The Pond

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Now – 01/17/2011
John Gossage repeatedly photographed a small, unnamed pond between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, from 1981 to 1985. Although many of the images in The Pond appear unruly or uncared for, Gossage found moments of grace and elegance in even the most mundane of places. In this exhibit, Gossage advocates an all-embracing view of the landscape, exploring the less idealized spaces that border America's cities and suburbs. The complete portfolio of The Pond was acquired by the museum in 2007. This exhibition marks the first time the entire series of 53 gelatin silver prints has been on public display.

 

Americans Now

National Portrait Gallery
Now – 07/10/2011
Drawn from the Portrait Gallery's permanent collection, this exhibition will feature individuals prominent in sports, entertainment and other fields of endeavor during the last ten years. It will also reflect the variety of media the Portrait Gallery is now collecting and addresses the museum's recently established policy of accepting living subjects into the collection. Individuals represented in this show will include: Chuck Close, Michael Eisner, LL Cool J, Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy, Willie Nelson, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Martha Stewart.

 

Losing Paradise: Endangered Plants Here and Around the World

National Museum of Natural History
Now – 12/12/2010
The vital importance of plant conservation is conveyed in this exhibition, which features 45 compelling botanical illustrations by members of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Our planet's rich diversity of plant life is at risk; more than 20 percent of the world's flora is threatened with extinction. Scientists are racing to gather information on known plants before they disappear forever, with botanical illustrators working alongside them to document plant diversity for future generations.

 

Editors' Picks: The Best of Smithsonian Magazine's 7th Annual Photo Contest

The Smithsonian Castle
Now – 2/28/2011
For the 7th year running, Smithsonian magazine received more than 45,000 entries from around the world for its annual photo contest in the following five categories: Altered Images, Americana, The Natural World, People, and Travel. A panel of judges selected 50 finalists, 30 of which are on display in the Castle.

 

Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture

National Museum of the American Indian
Now – 01/02/2011
This exhibition highlights Native people who have been active participants in the contemporary music scene. Musicians like Russell "Big Chief" Moore (Gila River Indian Community), Rita Coolidge (Cherokee), Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree), and the group Redbone are a few of the Native performing artists who have had successful careers in popular music from jazz and blues to folk, country and rock. In this exhibition their stories will be told, along with the histories behind them. Visitors can hear samples of music from these great artists and learn about their inspirations.

 

Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Now – 01/02/2011
Two of America's best-known modern filmmakers—George Lucas and Steven Spielberg—recognized a kindred spirit in the artist Norman Rockwell, and formed in-depth collections of his work. This exhibition will showcase more than 50 major Rockwell paintings and drawings from these private collections that are rarely seen by the public. Telling Stories will reveal for the first time the connections between Rockwell's iconic images of American life and the movies. Through their artistic endeavors, Lucas, Spielberg and Rockwell share a common approach to American ideals about love of country, personal honor and the value of family. They have transformed ordinary people and everyday experiences into humorous stories that show us our better selves, and the values that have sustained Americans through good times and bad. All three hold an ability to communicate visually with mass audiences using popular media of their time.

 

Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art

National Museum of African Art
Now – 11/28/2010
By tracing the story of the beautiful coiled basket on two continents, "Grass Roots" demonstrates the on-going contribution of African peoples and cultures to American life in the southeastern United States. Approximately 200 objects, including baskets made in Africa and the American South, are on view.

 

Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection

The Smithsonian Castle
Now – 10/11/2010
During her service as an Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright came to understand how powerful a symbol an item of jewelry could be. She chose pins to reflect her diplomatic mission, to reinforce her negotiating position and to express her pride of country and office. The pins on view span more than a century of jewelry design and range from dime-store pins to designer creations and family heirlooms. Highlights include the antique eagle purchased to celebrate her appointment as Secretary of State and the zebra pin worn when she first met Nelson Mandela.

 

Cosmos in Miniature: The Remarkable StarMap of Simean De Witt

American History
Now – 08/2020
See star-finding maps rendered by Simeon de Witt, the geographer and surveyor general of the Continental Army under George Washington. This exhibition features the oldest surviving Anglo-American star map. After making the map, De Witt later said, it had fostered an appreciation of "the ever shifting scenery of the skies and all the gorgeous drapery of heaven."

 

Celebrating 100 Years at the National Museum of Natural History

Natural History
Now – 03/20/2011 (new closing date)
To mark the museum's 100th anniversary, this exhibition highlights the behind-the-scenes research that advances scientific knowledge and inspires the museum's public educational programs. On view are archival and recent photographs depicting the historic and modern work of the researchers whose findings reveal the wonders of the natural world.

 

National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?

Cooper-Hewitt
Now – 01/09/2011
The Triennial program pursues and presents the most innovative designs at the center of contemporary culture. Inaugurated in 2000, the National Design Triennial explores the work of designers addressing human and environmental problems across many fields of the design practice—from architecture to fashion, commercial products, graphics, new media and landscapes.

 

Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers

Hirshhorn
Now – 09/12/2010
The first American retrospective in nearly 30 years to examine this highly influential French artist's career and work, lasting from the mid-1950s to his untimely death in 1962. Yves Klein was artist, composer, judo master, Rosicrucian, proto-conceptualist, and performance artist; a multifaceted talent who believed in the transformative power of art.

 

Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia

Sackler
Now – 01/23/2011
The fascinating story of bronze sculpture and casting in Cambodia is revealed through 36 exceptional works dating from the prehistoric period to the post-Angkorian period (3rd century BCE to 16th century CE). Seven of the works on view are among the first bronzes conserved in the lab by the staff of the National Museum of Cambodia.

 

Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Now – Fall 2010
Follow the 175 year history of the Austrian glass firm J. & L. Lobmeyr in this exhibition drawn from the museum’s recent acquisition of 160 rare examples of glass work. New York-based designer Ted Muehling curates.

 

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the Running Fence

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Now – 09/26/2010
In 2008, the Smithsonian American Art Museum acquired the definitive record of “Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972-76,” a major early work by world-renowned artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The 24.5 mile long white fabric and steel-pole fence, existed for only two weeks in 1976, but survives today through the artwork and documentation by the artists—drawings, collages, photographs, film and components.

 

The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?

National Museum of Natural History
New – New Permanent
Trace the epic story of how humans evolved in response to a changing world. The museum’s new multi-media immersion experience allows visitors to meet face-to-face with Sahelanthropus, the oldest known fossil human. Other displays include life-size reconstructions of early human species and an interactive family tree depicting millions of years of evolutionary change.

 

Graphic Masters III: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Now – 08/08/2020
This exhibition is the third in a series of special installations that celebrate the extraordinary variety and accomplishment of American artists’ works on paper. These watercolors, pastels and drawings from the 1960s to the 1990s reveal the central importance of works on paper for American artists, both as studies for creations in other media and as finished works of art. Rarely seen artworks from the museum’s permanent collection by artists such as Robert Arneson, Jennifer Bartlett, Philip Guston, Luis Jiménez and Wayne Thiebaud are featured in the exhibition.

 

Cornucopia: Ceramics from Southern Japan

Freer Gallery of Art
Now - 01/09/2011
In 1600 Japan, a heightened fascination with the design and uses of ceramics launched an era of extraordinarily diverse ceramic production. The island of Kyushu was the center for this efflorescence, which included stoneware coated in muted glazes and porcelain ornamented with cobalt blue or multicolored enamels. Hundreds of kilns produced vessels for the domestic market (with a focus on utensils for dining and for the tea ceremony) and for export to Europe and Southeast Asia. This exhibition illuminates the engaging variety of local styles of glazing and decoration invented by Kyushu potters over three centuries.

 

Moving Beyond the Earth

National Air and Space Museum
Now – New Permanent
Get a first hands feel for the history of human spaceflight during the space shuttle and space station era. Immerse yourself in the story and technology of human spaceflight. Visitors will see the Earth as it is viewed from the space station, learn what it feels like to orbit in the shuttle and quiz themselves to learn if they are “flight ready” for a space journey. See a 12-foot-tall space shuttle model and other launch vehicles, astronaut gear and other historic spaceflight artifacts.

 

Holidays On Display

National Museum of American History
Now – November 2010
This exhibit examines the art, industry and history of commercial holiday displays that enchanted the public from the 1920s to the 1960s. The exhibition focuses on the craftsmanship and creative effort involved in holiday displays and the memories they created. “Holidays on Display” examines the subject from the viewpoints of artists, producers and the public for whom the displays were made. For many Americans, department store displays stand out as an enjoyable memory and an integral component of civic, social life.

 

A Song for the Horse Nation

George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian, New York City
Now – 07/07/2011
From its reintroduction to the North American continent in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadors, Native peoples quickly adapted the horse into their culture, becoming among the best horsemen in the world. This exhibition pays homage to this enduring relationship with approximately 100 works from the museum’s collection, including objects such as shirts, saddles, buffalo robes and bags. The exhibition also addresses the decimation of the herds by the U.S. Army as Native peoples were forced onto reservations.

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