Happy February To All! Check out a new videoconference tour launching this spring. Visit our neighbors for a family fun day, then stop in SAAM’s galleries for more inspiration. Learn about the role of a curator with Melissa Ho, curator of twentieth-century art. Do you know a K-12 teacher who would enjoy this email? Send them this link! |
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| | Explore Asian American Identity with SAAM’s Newest Artful Connections Topic! This spring, dive into the works of Asian American artists and learn about their diverse experiences with a live, interactive Artful Connections videoconference.
Our Artful Connections program brings SAAM artworks into 3rd-12th grade classrooms through free videoconference lessons taught by trained volunteers. Request our new Asian American Artists topic or visit our classroom videoconferences page to learn about one of our other 11 topics! |
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| | A Day of Inspiration for Families
Saturday, February 17, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m. National Portrait Gallery
8th and G Streets NW
Free | No registration requiredSAAM shares our historic building with the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), which tells the story of America by portraying the people who shape our nation. Join NPG for a family day celebrating America's presidents through stories, artmaking, and writing activities. While you are here, check out Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour — Frederick Douglass, our shared SAAM + NPG time-based media art installation on the 2nd floor, which highlights the life and words of Frederick Douglass. |
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| | Celebrate Cherry Blossom Season
Saturday, March 23, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m. Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th and G Streets NW
Free | Registration encouragedWelcome spring with SAAM! Begin the day on the F Street Plaza (weather permitting) with a taiko drumming performance by drumming group Nen Daiko. The program continues inside in the Kogod Courtyard for Japanese pop, boogie, and more with Les The DJ.
Children 12 and younger are invited to make cherry-blossom themed crafts and enjoy face painting. Treat yourself with tasty offerings for purchase from the Courtyard Café. A spring-themed scavenger hunt through SAAM’s galleries extends the cherry blossom fun.
This program is part of the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival. |
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| | Meet Melissa Ho
Curator of Twentieth-Century Art at SAAM What is your job?
I research art and artists, care for and shape the museum’s collection, and create displays and exhibitions to engage audiences and expand visitors’ thinking.
What kind of training is needed to do your job?
The study of studio art and art history, talking to artists, plus lots of time experiencing works of art.
What skill do you use most often in your role?
On good days, curiosity and creativity; on average days, organization plus communication.
What’s something that has surprised you about working in museums?
How much multitasking is demanded.
What’s something you’re most proud to have done at work?
Organizing Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965 to 1975. |
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Image Credits: Visitors looking at a selection of artworks by Jeffery Gibson; Photo by Albert Ting
Roger Shimomura, Diary: December 12, 1941, 1980, acrylic on canvas, 50 1⁄4 x 60 in. (127.6 x 152.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1991.171
Installation view, Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, September 24– December 15, 2019. © Isaac Julien, Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro. Image Courtesy of SCAD
Cherry Blossom Family Day; Photo by Norwood Photography
Melissa Ho; Photo by Jeff Elkins |
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