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

Chinese New Year Family Celebration 
Saturday, February 1, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m. 
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Chinese Embassy. Help ring in the Year of the Rat with a variety of performances and activities. Enjoy Chinese ribbon dancing, acrobatic yo-yo performances, and an interactive magic show. Artists from the city of Shenzhen demonstrate ink finger-printing, wood printing, and how to make hands-on shadow puppets and dough figurines. Check out calligraphy demonstrations by the Confucius Institute at George Washington University, and Chinese paper cuts and good luck envelopes with the Confucius Institute at George Mason University. Go on an art scavenger hunt, create your own New Year craft, and enjoy delicious treats available for purchase at the Courtyard Café. Let’s “awaken the lion” and celebrate the New Year!
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard
Tickets: Free
Event Link

See Me at SAAM 
Wednesday, February 5, 2 p.m. 
In an effort to make SAAM’s collection accessible to all, See Me at SAAM is designed to improve the well-being of individuals with dementia and their care partners. This popular series brings people together to experience and discuss art in a small group setting.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard
Tickets: Free; Registration required by email at access@si.edu?or call (202) 633-2921
Event Link

Conversation Pieces 
Wednesday, February 5, 6 p.m.
Want to deepen your understanding and appreciation of contemporary art? Join Joanna Marsh, SAAM’s Deputy Education Chair, Head of Interpretation and Audience Research, for this ongoing series of gallery talks. Marsh uses a single artwork from the museum’s collection to spark conversation and closer examination.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, meet in the G Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

African American Artists Highlight Tour 
Saturday, February 8, 10:30 a.m. 
Celebrate Black History Month at SAAM with a special before hours tour of works on display by African American artists. This tour features paintings, sculptures, and mixed media works from the nineteenth century to today by artists including Edmonia Lewis, William H. Johnson, Alma Thomas, Theaster Gates, and more. Space is limited to 30 attendees.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum; meet in the F Street Lobby
Tickets: Free; Registration required
Event Link

Art Appreciation Workshop – African American Artists in SAAM’s Collection 
Saturday, February 8, 3 p.m. 
Dive into the mind of an artist! Join artist and scholar Allan?deSouza?for a workshop designed to?enhance your skills, looking, analyzing, and appreciating?art.?This program focuses?on works by African American artists in SAAM’s collection in celebration of Black History Month.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, MacMillan Education Center
Tickets: Free; Registration required
Event Link

Panel Discussion – A Closer Look at African American Artists in SAAM’s Collection 
Saturday, February 8, 6 p.m. 
SAAM is home to one of the largest collections of work made by African American artists in the world. Join artist and scholar Allan deSouza, art adviser Schwanda Rountree, and DC-based art collectors Mel and Juanita Hardy for a panel discussion highlighting important works by African American artists from our collection.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free; Registration required
Event Link

Beyond the Studio Workshop: Embroidery with Katherine Akey 
Sunday, February 9, 1-3 p.m.
Hear from professionals that work in the arts and sharpen your own creative skills with a hands-on activity. In this installment, try your hand at embroidery with multidisciplinary teaching artist Katherine Akey. Presented with Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, MacMillan Education Center
Tickets: $10; Registration required
Event Link

Yoga in Luce 
Wednesday, February 12, 6 p.m. 
Bring your mat and relax with this Vinyasa yoga and art appreciation series. Participants are invited to reflect on an artwork in the Luce Foundation Center before unwinding with a one-hour all-levels vinyasa yoga class led by certified instructor Alicia Moyer.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
Tickets: $10; Registration required; Cash is not accepted at the door
Event Link

Valentine’s Day Handi-hour Pop-up 
Friday, February 14, 5-7 p.m. 
Celebrate friendship, love, and fun at our annual Valentine’s Day Handi-hour pop-up in SAAM’s dazzling Kogod Courtyard. Paper, scissors, stickers, glue, and more are provided for you to make the perfect sweet or snarky valentine. While you craft your heart out at this free event, drink specials and snacks are available for purchase from the Courtyard Café.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard
Tickets: Free; Registration recommended. Registration will open on January 24.
Event Link

Obata Teen Arts Workshop 
Saturday, February 15, 1-3 p.m.
In this hands-on workshop, learn about teacher and modernist artist Chiura Obata, who, as a Japanese American, played an important role in creating a cross-cultural dialogue despite widespread prejudice against Asian Americans. During World War II, Obata and more than one hundred thousand West Coast Japanese Americans were forced into incarceration camps. After touring the exhibition Chiura Obata: American Modern, participate in activities that examine how these experiences changed Obata’s art and connect to the struggles and dreams of America’s minority and immigrant communities today. Presented in partnership with the Asian Pacific American Center. Ages 12 – 16.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, MacMillan Education Center
Tickets: Free; Registration required
Event Link

Hearts of Our People Land Acknowledgement and Welcome 
Friday, February 21, 10 a.m. 
Join us on the steps of the Renwick Gallery when Gabrielle Tayac, a member of the Piscataway Nation, opens the Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists exhibition with words that honor the lands, ancestors, and living beings that we are part of in this Piscataway world.
Location: Renwick Gallery; Meet in Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Curator Gallery Talk: Hearts of Our People 
Friday, February 21, 12 p.m. 
Explore the Renwick Gallery’s latest exhibition Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists with curators Jill Ahlberg Yohe, associate curator of Native American Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Teri Greeves, an independent curator and member of the Kiowa Nation. Learn more about the artists, the artworks that are on display, and discuss the collaborative curatorial process Yohe and Greeves championed for this groundbreaking exhibition.
Location: Renwick Gallery, meet in Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Art Bites Gallery Talks: John Mix Stanley’s Buffalo Hunt on the Southwestern Prairies 
Friday, February 28, 12:15 p.m. 
Take a lunch break and join SAAM’s research fellows and curators as they share their new discoveries about artworks from the collection. In this installment, Predoctoral Fellow Christine Renee Garnier discusses John Mix Stanley’s painting Hunt on the Southwestern Prairies (1845).
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum; meet in the G Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

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Music, Performances & Film

Luce Unplugged Community Showcase: Des Demonas 
Thursday, February 13, 5:30-7 p.m. 
Enjoy music from DC’s best local artists while surrounded by beautiful artworks in SAAM’s one-of-a-kind programming space, the Luce Foundation Center. In this installment, join iconic DC punk band Des Demonas on a wild ride full of fuzzy guitars, insistent bass, euphonious drums, and a swirling electronic organ. Libations and snacks are available for purchase at the on-site bar. A staff-led discussion about an artwork chosen by the performers starts at 5:30 p.m., with the music beginning at 6 p.m.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center (third floor)
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Mother Tongue Film Festival 
Saturday, February 22, 3 p.m.
SAAM is pleased to be a venue for the Smithsonian’s 2020 Mother Tongue Film Festival, which celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world. Since 2016, the annual festival has opened on February 21, International Mother Language Day. A full schedule of events will be available at mothertongue.si.edu.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
Tickets: Free; Registration recommended
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, then spend some time sketching in this weekly workshop. Some materials provided; please bring a small sketchbook and pencils.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center (third floor)
Tickets: Free
Event Link

Conservation Conversation: Preserving SAAM’s Collection 
Friday, February 7, 14, 21, 28, 1 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

Art Signs: Gallery Talk in American Sign Language (ASL)
Thursday, February 13, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 16, 1 p.m. 
Join us for lively gallery conversations in American Sign Language led by Deaf gallery guides. Don’t miss a single one, as this popular series examines different treasures from SAAM’s collection for each installment. For more information, contact SAAMAccess@si.edu.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, meet in the F Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

America InSight: Verbal Description Tour 
Sunday, February 9, 1:30 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. Touch components for sculptures and model recreations of paintings may be incorporated into the tour. For more information, contact SAAMAccess@si.edu
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, meet in the F Street Lobby
Tickets: Free
Event Link

America InSight: Verbal Description Tour at the Renwick Gallery
Sunday, February 23, 1:30 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. Touch components for sculptures and model recreations of paintings may be incorporated into the tour. For more information, contact SAAMAccess@si.edu.
Location: Renwick Gallery, meet in the 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