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

Beyond the Studio Workshop: Kokedama Making with Lily Cox
Sunday, October 7, 1:00 p.m.
Join artist and founder of A Strange Flower DC, Lily Cox, for an afternoon of kokedama making! Hear about Lily’s experience as a DC-based artist and receive instruction on how to create, display, and care for your very own kokedama. A kokedama is a ball of soil and moss that contains the roots of a living plant that can be fashioned to hang like an ornament or displayed to sit on its own. This event is presented in collaboration with Shop Made in DC.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd floor
Tickets: $12; Tickets available online. Registration is required.
Event Link

Triple Take: A Double Take Special Edition
Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 6:00 p.m.
In this special edition of Double Take, three Smithsonian experts come together to discuss the natural history of the buffalo, its significance to native peoples, and its place in American Art. SAAM’s curator of sculpture, Karen Lemmey is joined by Paul Marinari, senior curator for species survival at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), and Emil Her Many Horses, associate curator at the National Museum of the American Indian, to discuss relevant works in SAAM’s collection.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Meet at G Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Yoga in Luce
Wednesday, October 10, 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. We do not accept cash at the door.
Event Link

Diane Arbus: A box of ten photographs Curator Gallery Talk 
Friday, October 12, 5:30 p.m.
Join John Jacob, the McEvoy Family Curator for Photography, as he explores Diane Arbus’ portfolio which spans from 1962 to 1970 and includes some of her most iconic works. Jacob discusses how these select photographs illustrate the impact of Arbus’ career on American photography.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Meet in F Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series: Marie Watt
Wednesday, October 17, 6:30 p.m.
Join artist Marie Watt, for a lecture on her work and influences. An active member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, Watt works primarily in the medium of blankets, playing on the tropes of personal possession and cultural heritage. For her talk, Watt discusses how her work and community collaborations create a framework for understanding our relatedness to place, one another, and the universe in its ancient and modern conditions. In this lecture series, Watt will be specifically discussing her piece titled Companion Species.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free; Tickets available in the Kogod Courtyard beginning at 6:00 pm.
Accessibility: ASL- interpreted, assisted listening devices available
Event Link

No Spectators: Beyond the Renwick Walking Tour
Thursday, October 18, Noon
From the desert to DC! Explore the six outdoor sculptures of No Spectators: Beyond the Renwick, extending the art of Burning Man from the Renwick Gallery into the streets and parks of Washington’s Golden Triangle neighborhood. This program is presented in collaboration with the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID).
Location: Meet at Renwick Gallery entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Conversation Pieces 
Wednesday, October 24, 6:00 p.m. 
Want to deepen your understanding and appreciation of contemporary art? Join senior curator, Joanna Marsh, 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 the G Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link 

Art Bites Gallery Talk 
Friday, October 26, 12:15 p.m. 
Take a lunch break and join SAAM’s research fellows as they share their discoveries about artworks from the collection. Research fellow Kimia Shahi will discuss Edward Mitchell Bannister’s Swale Land (1898). Come learn the stories behind this work and find out what it tells us about America’s ever-changing culture.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Meet in G Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Sites Unseen Panel Discussion 
Friday, October 26, 6:00 p.m.
Artist Trevor Paglen is joined by Georgetown Law professor Alvaro Bedoya, artificial intelligence experts Kate Crawford and Wendy Hui Kyong Chun for a discussion on the role of surveillance in our lives. The panel explore how artists and institutions fit into the age of AI, focusing on the ethical and legal issues presented by its use. Be sure to view Paglen’s work featured in SAAM’s exhibition Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen before the discussion.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Día de los Muertos Family Day 
Saturday, October 27, 11:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with SAAM! Enjoy Mexican folk dance performances throughout the day and leave your handmade ofrendas (offerings) including paper marigolds, calaveras (skull masks), and paper monarch butterflies on our Day of the Dead altar. Explore works by Mexican American artist in SAAM’s collection with a scavenger hunt.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard
Tickets: Free
Event Link

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Music/Film

Movies at SAAM: Pollock
Thursday, October 4, 7:00 p.m.
This biographical film explores the life and career of American painter Jackson Pollock. Emmy nominated for his role, Ed Harris plays the struggling artist as he deals with alcoholism and the new direction of modern art.
Rated R (122 minutes; 2000)
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Take 5! Paul Piper and Band
Thursday, October 18, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Relax and “Take 5!” with free, live jazz in the Kogod Courtyard. Stop by the Courtyard Café for refreshments. For added fun, borrow a board game to play during the concert.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Luce Unplugged Community Showcase: Aaron Leitko & Boat Burning 
Thursday, October 19, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Luce Unplugged partners with Washington City Paper to showcase up and coming local bands. In this installment, enjoy the ambient synthesized tunes of Aaron Leitko and the “maximal minimalism” of Boat Burning’s experimental rock. Free beer tasting (ages 21+) provided by local craft breweries. Additional beverages and snacks are available for purchase.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum; Luce Foundation Center, 3rd floor
Tickets: Free
Event Link

21st Century Consort: Sites Unheard
Saturday, October 20, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
SAAM’s award-winning ensemble-in-residence kicks off the season with a musical take on the artwork featured in Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen. Trevor Paglen makes the invisible world visible, documenting the infrastructures of American surveillance with photography, video, journalism, geo-politics, and astronautical engineering. Come experience how the ensemble interprets his work into music.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Sight Machine with Kronos Quartet and Trevor Paglen
Thursday, October 25, 9:00 – 11:00 p.m.
Music should be seen and heard. SAAM presents Sight Machine, a collaboration of Trevor Paglen and the Kronos Quartet. Let your ears process the sounds of composers as various as Laurie Anderson and George Gershwin as artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms developed by Paglen puzzle over the performance, analyzing movements and facial expressions while projecting the results onto a screen above the musicians.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard
Tickets: $75; Tickets available online. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. performance begins at 9:00 p.m. with seating on a first come first serve basis.
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

Lunder Conservation Center Tour
Wednesdays, 3 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, third floor
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Art Signs: Gallery Talk in American Sign Language (ASL)
Thursday, October 11, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 21, 1:00 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, October 14, 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 18, 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

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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