SAAM opens tomorrow. Photo by Tim Hursley.
Tomorrow, a really wonderful thing happens, and though we’ve thought about it for days and months and years, now that the moment is here it’s hard to know quite what to say. We’re all tired—sooo tired, and excited, and nervous, and humbled by this step we’re about to take. Tomorrow we go from being that closed museum on F Street to being a vital part of this city and a fresh new voice in American public life.
I keep thinking about something I heard a famous folk fiddler say at a dance. He said to the crowd, “I hope you use me well tonight.” I think that’s what we want too.
We hope you use us well. We hope you come visit and see wonderful, exuberant, challenging things here. We hope we’ve done justice to the art in our care and artists who made it, and we hope we’ve done justice to your curiosity, your ideas, and your perspective on the American experience.
