Events and Programs at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Events and Programs at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC

Programs are free and open to the public unless ticket information is noted.

Art Talks and Activities

Conversation Pieces
Wednesday, November 28, 6:00 p.m.
Want to deepen your understanding and appreciation of contemporary art? Join Joanna Marsh, senior curator of contemporary interpretation, for this popular ongoing series of gallery talks. Marsh uses a single artwork from the museum’s collection to spark conversation and close looking.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Meet in G Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Yoga in Luce
Wednesday, November 28, 6:00 p.m.
Bring your mat and relax with this Vinyasa yoga and art appreciation series. Participants are invited to reflect on an artwork of their choosing before a credentialed instructor from Flow Yoga Center leads a one-hour, all-levels class surrounded by the beautiful artworks in the Luce Foundation Center.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor
Tickets: $10; Participants must register online. Tickets go on sale November 14th at noon. We do not accept cash at the door.
Event link

Artist Talk with Photographer Chris Buck
Wednesday, November 28, 7:00 p.m.
Join photographer Chris Buck as he talks about his thirty years in photography, starting with his early years in Canada and his magazine and advertising career in New York. Buck is known for his distinctive portraits and his surprising, comical approach to photography. His famous subjects include Hollywood A-list celebrities and four presidents. He also pursues odd and delightful side projects like “Chris Buck’s Chris Bucks,” which features portraits of people who share his full name.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free; Pre-registration encouraged at https://asmpdc.org/buck
Event link

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Music/Film

Movies at SAAM: Art in the Twenty-First Century: San Francisco Bay Area
Wednesday, December 5, 7 p.m.
Watch Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational 2018 artist Stephanie Syjuco discuss her work in “San Francisco Bay Area,” a new episode of Art21’s series Art in the Twenty-First Century. This episode of the Peabody Award-winning television series highlights how Bay Area artists have responded to the tech boom that has shaped where they live and work as they pursue their personal visions of a better future. This episode also features Creative Growth Art Center, Katy Grannan, and Lynn Hershman Lesson.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free
Event Link

21st Century Consort: Between Worlds
Saturday, December 8, 3:30 p.m.
Join the 21st Century Consort, SAAM’s award-winning ensemble-in-residence, as they celebrate the works of the extraordinary 20th-century artist Bill Traylor featured in SAAM’s exhibition Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor. The Consort’s music probes subjects and stories that informed Traylor’s life and inhabit his work with pieces by Frederic Rzewski, Carlos Oliver Simon, David Baker, and TJ Anderson.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Luce Unplugged: Cinema Hearts
Thursday, December 13, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Explore some of the three thousand artworks in SAAM’s Luce Center while listening to the up-and-coming local band Cinema Hearts. Inspired by the music of doo-wop singers and surf guitarists, the sound of Cinema Hearts is wistful, yet feisty. Libations and snacks will be available for purchase from an on-site bar.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Take 5! With the Chris Barrick Band
Thursday, December 20, 5 – 7 p.m.
Vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, and educator Chris Barrick has recorded and played with many jazz musicians both locally and nationally and performed with numerous symphony orchestras, theater, and ballet companies. In this installment of Take 5!, Barrick and his band will celebrate the music of the Bobby Hutcherson/ Harold Land quintet. Stop by the Courtyard Café for refreshments, and for added fun borrow a board game to play during the concert.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard
Tickets: Free
Event Link

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Ongoing Programs

Sketching: Draw and Discover!
Tuesdays, 2:30 – 4:30pm
Draw inspiration from artists’ sketches as well as the thousands of objects on display in the Luce Foundation Center of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, then spend time sketching in our workshop. Some materials provided; please bring a small sketchbook and pencils. Repeats weekly.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center Information Desk, Third-floor
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Art Signs: Gallery Talk in American Sign Language (ASL)
Sunday, December 16, 1 p.m.
Join us for a lively 30 minute gallery conversation about selected artworks. This program is presented in American Sign Language by deaf gallery guides with voice interpretation for hearing visitors. For more information, email wilsoncl@si.edu.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, meet in the F Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

America InSight: Verbal Description Tours
Sunday, December 9, 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 20, 3:30 p.m.
Join a docent-led tour designed for visitors who are blind or have low vision. Discover highlights of the collection through rich verbal description and sensory experience.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, meet in F Street lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Conservation Conversation
Wednesday, December 5, December 12 and December 19, 3:00 p.m.
Learn how museum conservators preserve SAAM’s artworks in the Lunder Conservation Center. The center has five state-of-the-art laboratories and studios equipped to treat paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures, folk art objects, contemporary crafts, decorative arts, and frames. Group size is limited.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Lunder Conservation Center
Tickets: Free
Event Link

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For more information on this museum, visit our Smithsonian American Art Museum page.

Event listings are provided by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery