“Museums touch lives and transform the way people see the world and each other.”
Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton writes about the value of museums and libraries today.
A story “Mad Men” overlooked: Caroline R. Jones, who spearheaded advertising that changed how Americans thought about some of the world’s most popular brands.
Jones built a trailblazing career as an advertising executive, starting as a copywriter in the early 1960s and eventually founding multiple firms. Her clients included American Express, the National Urban League and Kentucky Fried Chicken (her agency developed the slogan “We Do Chicken Right!”).
Throughout her career, Jones struggled against the assumption that her ads should only address African American consumers. Many times her targeted ad campaigns were so successful that companies used them for national work—but, in one case, replaced African American figures with white models.
Jones died in 2001, but her story lives on through items of hers at our National Museum of American History. More about her life on their blog.
Yes, whales have earwax and yes, we have 1,000 samples of it in our collection.
Like the rings of a tree, these waxy time capsules give scientists a timeline of data about a whale’s life and environment—opening up a whole new canal of ocean study.
This piece of whale earwax is among hundreds of rarely seen specimens and artifacts in #ObjectsofWonder, a new exhibition at our National Museum of Natural History. It explores the breadth, scope and splendor of the world’s most extensive natural history research collection and its surprising role in scientific discovery. The exhibition is open through 2019.
Getting that #FridayFeeling from this Alma Thomas painting, “Snoopy–Early Sun Display on Earth” (1970), in our @americanartmuseum.
Thomas was the first student to graduate from Howard University with a degree in art, and taught art to junior high school students in Washington, D.C., for more than 30 years. After she retired, she developed her signature abstract and colorful paintings inspired by nature.
In 1972, at age 75, Thomas was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York.
For Women’s History Month, we’re joining our friends at National Museum of Women in the Arts and asking you to name #5womenartists.🎨
International Women’s Day poster from 1975, printed by the Women’s Graphics Collective, in our @cooperhewitt.
Four Chicago-based women designers founded the group in 1970, bringing together women designers and activists to produce art that advanced the goals of the women’s movement. More about the poster and their organization.
For Women’s History Month, we’re joining our @nmaahc in sharing #HiddenHerstory, stories of women who have often been overlooked throughout history.
In this photo from the museum collection, Daisy Bates meets with seven members of the Little Rock Nine in her home. Bates played a significant role in the integration of the Little Rock Central High School in 1957, despite the death threats she received—one through the window of her home.
Bates, who was elected president of the Arkansas NAACP in 1952, was inspired by the Brown v. Board case to focus on education.
This enormous diamond glows in the dark.
At 187 carats, the Foxfire diamond isn’t the only diamond that glows under UV light. What’s intriguing to our scientists is how it continues to emit an eerie glow—first orange and then white—for minutes after the light is turned off.
It’s most likely caused by nitrogen impurities in its structure, but we’re still learning about this 2 billion-year-old gem. See more photos of the diamond in action and learn more about it.
Yayoi Kusama’s installations are immersive, colorful, and sparkly. And for the first time ever, you can see six of her iconic Infinity Mirror rooms together in one place.
We’re giving you a sneak peek at “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” which opens Feb. 23 at our @hirshhorn museum.
Kusama’s kaleidoscopic installations give the illusion of infinite space. #InfiniteKusama celebrates the legendary Japanese artist’s 65-year career, and has a selection of other key works beyond the dazzling rooms, including some never shown before in the U.S.
Free timed passes are required for the exhibition, which runs through May 14. Plan your visit at kusama.si.edu
© Yayoi Kusama, photos by Cathy Carver
Our experts are working to save cultural heritage under attack in Iraq. They explain our active role in preserving local history in @smithsonianmag.
A member of a 1962 Antarctic expedition makes a fluffy friend. 🐧 This Smithsonian Institution Archives photo was taken while Smithsonian curator Waldo L. Schmitt was collecting during the Palmer Peninsula Survey.
Some artsy love for Valentine’s Day from our @archivesofamericanart ❤️Happy Valentine’s Day! Here are photographs of some of our favorite couples from the Archives of American Art.
Wilna Hervey, a silent film actress and painter, and her partner, painter Nan Mason, are shown here in Florence, Italy in 1926. They were together until Hervey passed away in 1979. The finding aid to their papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2lLlzEs
Painters and Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight are shown here in 1979. They met in Harlem Renaissance sculptor Augusta Savage’s workshop, and married in 1941. The finding aid to their papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2kFSLfR
Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Katherine Schmidt, shown in circa 1925, met in 1917 through the Art Students League in New York, and married in 1917. Schmidt had to surrender her United States citizenship in order to marry Kuniyoshi. The finding aid to Yasuo Kuniyoshi’s papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2lfvJzE, and the finding aid to Katherine Schmidt’s papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2lfj8fT.
Happy Galentine’s Day! What’s Galentine’s Day? “It’s only the best day of the year.”
These three friends are from our @americanartmuseum.
What Galentine’s Day would be complete without waffles? Go ahead and treat yo’ self in celebration of female friendship, with this art deco waffle iron in our National Museum of American History.
“You beautiful tropical fish.” This queen angelfish spotted at our marine station in Florida deserves all the compliments.
Galentine’s Day may have started as a holiday celebrating women on the TV show “Parks and Recreation,” but we have many real-life stories of female friendship and camaraderie throughout history.
Each of these orchids is a work of art.
There are more than 100 stunning blooms featured at the 2017 Orchid Exhibition by Smithsonian Gardens and the United States Botanic Garden. This is the first time the annual show is at our @hirshhorn museum, where orchids act as colorful, time-based installations that constantly change over the course of the exhibition.
You can see “orchids: A MOMENT” through May 14.
“I, too, am America” – poet Langston Hughes, born on this day in 1902. Portrait by Winold Reiss from our National Portrait Gallery.
Hear Hughes read “I, Too” and other works from Smithsonian Folkways.
The menu for President Lincoln’s second inaugural ball included terrapin (turtle), edible sculptures and beef à-la-mode, which thankfully doesn’t have anything to do with ice cream.
Learn more about the massive meal held in the building that now houses our American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.
