Smithsonian American Art Museum

In the Luce Foundation Center, we have a folk art memory vessel that has nine human teeth along its bottom. We also have a ceramic sculpture that includes a set of human teeth and, similarly, a handful of our portrait miniatures contain locks of human hair. Making connections across the collection like this is what you can expect to see on the Center's Art + Coffee tours beginning this month. We're ditching our usual introductory tours in favor of themed talks to spice up our program and entice visitors to come back for more. Some of the themes may be a little less traditional than what you're used to getting in an art museum tour (teeth and hair?!), but we're hopeful that people will see this as an opportunity to hear some of the less-often told stories about our pieces.  

 

Focusing these talks will let us go into more detail about three or four pieces rather than take visitors on a whirlwind tour through the space and bombard them with dates and art historical facts. With thousands of pieces in our space, this approach just makes sense to us! We welcome suggestions for topics to consider, too, so feel free to email us at americanartluce@si.edu if you have ideas!

We will be adding our new topics to the online calendar, so be on the lookout for these talks. Art + Coffee is offered on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. 

 

 

- Bridget  

 

 

Image credits:  

  

Unidentified artist, Memory High-Button Shoe, early 20th century, mixed media on Masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson  


Ronna Neuenschwander
, Obsession,1998, earthenware with terra sigillata, tin, and teeth, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Howard Kottler Endowment for Ceramic Art
 
Unidentified artist, Member of the Yates Family, about 1780, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund  
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Smithsonian American Art Museum 

8th & F Streets NW

Washington, D.C. 20004

 

Renwick Gallery

Pennsylvania Ave at 17th Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20006


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