This week at American Art!

Smithsonian American Art Museum

We offer so many great public programs at the American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery that we've decided to gather them all up into weekly program updates. Hopefully this will help you plan the week ahead while also reducing the amount of space we take up in your inbox. We will continue to send other emails related to education, collections, exhibitions, and more.

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This week is all about past and present at the museum, as we look back at the life of a Civil War soldier and forward with our "Is This Art?" open discussion on contemporary art. And in the spirit of Valentine's Day, we're hosting a "Lover's Eye"-themed artist talk and sketching session in the Luce Foundation Center. DC-based artist Becca Kallem will be discussing the Museum's collection of eye miniatures and their romantic significance in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as teaching participants how to sketch eyes to make updated miniatures of their own. I hope you can join us this week for some good old-fashioned or oh-so-modern fun!

-- Courtney
Meet the Social Media Team

This Week's Featured Programs

Visit our online calendar for more information

Is "This" Art? Open Discussion

Tuesday, Feb. 5, Noon

Baffled by a lot of contemporary art? Feel like you don't "get it"? Join us for a gallery talks focused solely on modern and contemporary art. Open Discussion encourages free-flowing conversation and debate.

Lincoln Gallery, Third floor

Conservation Clinic

Wednesday, Feb, 6, by appointment

Have questions about the condition of a painting, frame, drawing, print or object that you own? Our conservators are available by appointment to consult with you about the preservation of your art.

*To request an appointment or to learn more, email DWRCLunder@si.edu and specify CLINIC in the subject line

Tour: African American Artists in the Collection

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 12:30 p.m.

In honor of Black History Month, this special docent-led tour highlights the artworks by African American artists in the museum's permanent collection.

Meet in the F St Lobby

"Civil War" poetry and performance with David Keplinger

Saturday, Feb. 9, 3 p.m.

Join Professor David Keplingerof American University's MFA program in creative writing as he shares music, poetry, and fiction based on the journal of his great great-grandfather, Isaac Anderson, a Union soldier.

McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level

Lover's Eye with Becca Kallem

Sunday, Feb. 10, 1:30 p.m.

Local artist Becca Kallem discusses the museum's collection of eye miniatures. Following the talk, Kallem will teach visitors how to properly sketch an eye, and participants will have an opportunity to create their own miniature, perfect for that special Valentine.

Luce Foundation Center, Third Floor

Steinway Series: National Chamber Ensemble

Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, 3 p.m.

Join us for an afternoon of Russian romantic music as members of the National Chamber Ensemble- Leo Sushansky, violinist and artistic director; Kathryn Brake, pianist, and Lukasz Szyrner, cellist-perform the works by Myaskovsky, Prokofiev and Arensky.

**Free tickets are available in the G Street lobby thirty minutes before each program. **

McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level

Eye Miniatures in the Luce Foundation Center

Openings and Closings

Opening February 1, 2013
Pictures in the Parlor
2nd floor South, American Art Museum

Pictures in the Parlor examines decorative images from the mid-nineteenth century through the early twentieth century that were used in domestic interiors to convey the values, aspirations, and achievements of their owners. The installation includes twenty-five painted tintypes, twenty-one hand-colored photographs, and nine folios from a Victorian collage album from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's permanent collection.

Ongoing Programs

Sketching: Draw and Discover
Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m.
American Art Museum

Behind-the-Scenes Introduction to the Lunder Conservation Center
Wednesdays at 3 p.m.
American Art Museum

Art + Coffee
Thursdays through Sundays at 1:30 p.m. Check the online calendar for featured speakers.
American Art Museum

Highlights of the American Art Museum Daily at 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.
American Art Museum

Highlights of the Renwick Gallery Weekdays at 12 p.m., weekends at 1 p.m.
Renwick Gallery

Photography, jazz, craft, media arts...

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Smithsonian American Art Museum

P.O. Box 37012

Washington, D.C. 20013