SAAM Stories

An illustration of a nun creating a screenprint
Women Artists 08/12/2021
Drawn to Corita Kent
Celebrating the renowned artist with a comic about her life and work
A photograph of Howard Kaplan on a plane.
Howard Kaplan
Writer
Collage of two comic covers: "Mickalene Thomas: Portrait" and "Berenice Abbott: Picturing a City"
Women Artists 08/12/2021
New Comic Series Presents Ten Visionaries and Rule Breakers in SAAM’s Collection
SAAM Debuts Drawn to Art: Ten Tales of Inspiring Women Artists
A photograph of Howard Kaplan on a plane.
Howard Kaplan
Writer
Image of large installation artwork of a comet suspended from the ceiling
Exhibitions Behind-the-Scenes 08/11/2021
Reflecting on Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020 During a Global Pandemic
Nora Atkinson, curator-in-charge of SAAM’s Renwick Gallery, reflects on an unprecedented year and a half and the universal force of nature
Photograph of Nora Atkinson by Libby Weiler.
Nora Atkinson
The Fleur and Charles Bresler Curator-in-Charge, Renwick Gallery
Fragment of a buffalo horn painted with orange butterflies on it.
Contemporary Craft New Acquisitions 08/09/2021
Making the Most: In the Studio with Kevin Pourier
Oglala Lakota artist Kevin Pourier creates art from buffalo horn, a material with a deep ancestral and cultural connection
A photograph of a woman with brown hair and a dress standing inside a building.
Mary Savig
Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft
A zoom screen split with four participants
Chicano Graphics Exhibitions 08/06/2021
Chicanx Artists on Sharing Knowledge and Building Community
We look at themes from ¡Printing the Revolution! as discussed in conversations between the artists, curators, and scholars
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
Black and white Image of boy and girl with back to camera blurred
From the Collection One Smithsonian 08/03/2021
Leslie Thornton and the Art of Surviving
Leslie Thornton’s feminist punk reset of experimental filmmaking’s aims and inclusions tackles issues we still grapple with today.
This is a photograph of curator Saisha Grayson
Saisha Grayson
Curator of Time-Based Media
"SAAM Arcade" Repeated five times
SAAM Arcade 08/02/2021
Building Community Through Video Games
Chris Totten reflects on how the gaming community around SAAM Arcade has grown since the first event debuted seven years ago
Chris Totten
Close up of a man in a sombrero
Chicano Graphics Exhibitions 07/30/2021
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: RIFA, from Méchicano 1977 Calendario
Go in-depth with ¡Printing the Revolution's! iconic image
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
A photo of musician Bartees Strange standing on a sidewalk between trees
Luce Foundation Center Five Question Interviews 07/29/2021
Podcast Release: Music and Conversation with Bartees Strange
Bartees Strange warns us against creating musical silos and describes how DC’s rich legacy of Black musicianship shaped his goals and his worldview.
Anne Wilsey
Program Specialist for the Luce Foundation Center
Woman with her arms crossed with a sunset background.
Exhibitions 07/27/2021
Exhibition Showcases How Artists Challenge Mythic Conceptions of the American West
Now on tour! Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, a collaboration among SAAM and four partner museums, offers counterviews of “the West” and showcases modern and contemporary artists who are who are reclaiming the narratives of their region.
Ashley Reese
"SAAM Arcade" Repeated five times
SAAM Arcade 07/22/2021
SAAM Arcade 2021: What Is a Game Jam?
SAAM Arcade is back with a new virtual program format, the museum’s first-ever Game Jam. Learn more about what a game jam is in this blog post!
This is an image of Lauren Kolodkin.
Lauren Kolodkin
External Affairs and Digital Strategies Assistant
A print of a woman's face with facial tattoos, against a printed background
Chicano Graphics Exhibitions 07/21/2021
Chicanx Graphic Arts in Focus: Between the Leopard and the Jaguar
Artist Melanie Cervantes explores indigeneity, identity, and activism in her printmaking practice
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
A painting of Mrs. Charles Boynton Darling.
From the Collection Pride 07/20/2021
A Brush with History: Good Hair Advice Is Never Out of Style
Three years ago we imagined the letters of nineteenth-century portrait sitters to Jonathan Van Ness, star of the Netflix’s series Queer Eye. With so many of us looking for advice about how to tame our unmanageable pandemic hair, we thought we’d take another look.
A photograph of Howard Kaplan on a plane.
Howard Kaplan
Writer
A black and white photograph of a person leaning out of a window, holding an umbrella.
Exhibitions Women Artists 07/16/2021
Into the Community: A New Exhibition Explores a Changing American Neighborhood
A close exploration of a resilient community through the lens of three women photographers
Headshot of woman with black hair
Rebekah Mejorado
Public Relations Specialist
Painting of a glass with lemon slices on a white plate next to a red cup and saucer.
Behind-the-Scenes 07/12/2021
Raising a Glass to Change
SAAM’s third floor galleries for modern and contemporary art are closed to the public temporarily beginning Monday, July 12 to make way for new artworks and new stories.
A photograph of a woman.
Katie Hondorf
Public Affairs Specialist
Two views of a painting under different lighting conditions.
From the Collection Conservation 07/08/2021
Using Science to Uncover Secrets of Alma Thomas
Conservators at SAAM uncover new aspects of the influential artist’s work
Amber Kerr
Sydney Nikolaus
A woman looks up at a bust.
Exhibitions Behind-the-Scenes 07/07/2021
Lessons Learned from Alexander von Humboldt
Senior Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey takes readers behind the scenes of an exhibition’s 17-month run
A photograph of Eleanor Harvey
Eleanor Jones Harvey
Senior Curator (19th-Century Art)
A woman in her studio making a cloth facemeask.
Contemporary Craft Women Artists 07/02/2021
Making the Most: In the Studio with Carolyn Crump
The artist focused on health and happiness, for herself and others, during the pandemic.
A photograph of a woman with brown hair and a dress standing inside a building.
Mary Savig
Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft