Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

DC Art Association - First Annual Exhibition

Members of the District of Columbia Art Association display artwork, including sculptures and paintings in oil, watercolor, and acrylic.

June 1, 1969 – June 30, 1969

Anacostia Community Museum

The Rat: Man's Invited Affliction

Rats pose a challenge globally and locally, including in Washington, DC.

November 16, 1969 – January 25, 1970

Anacostia Community Museum

The Evolution of a Community, Part 1: 1608-1955

Witness the history of Anacostia, a neighborhood in southeast Washington, DC, from 1608 until shortly after World War II, as drawn from interviews with longtime residents.

February 27, 1972 – August 31, 1972

Anacostia Community Museum

Anacostia Today: The Evolution of a Community, Part 2: Continued

Originally shown in 1972 as part of Museum’s fifth anniversary, this exhibit continues its focus on five major topics of deep concern to the residents of Anacostia, a neighborhood in southeast Washington, DC.

March 1, 1973 – July 31, 1973

Anacostia Community Museum

A Child's World: Sears, Roebuck and Company Collection of American Toys, 1890-1960

Enjoy over 500 cast iron and tinplate toys.

January 1, 1972 – January 1, 1974

American History Museum

East Bank Artists

The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum creates a communal space for artists working east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC to share their work.

June 15, 1975 – August 24, 1975

Anacostia Community Museum

John N. Robinson: A Retrospective

John N. Robinson began to paint at the age of twelve and studied art with Professors James V. Herring and James A. Porter at Howard University. In the late 1920s, he moved from northwest Washington, DC to Anacostia, a neighborhood in the city’s southeast. Inspired by daily life in Anacostia, he painted family, neighbors, landscapes and lilacs. The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum presents this retrospective in cooperation with the Corcoran Gallery of Art, part of the Corcoran’s Bicentennial year series featuring the work of Washington, DC artists. The exhibition will be at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from June 18 through July 30, 1976.

May 9, 1976 – June 13, 1976

Anacostia Community Museum

The Anacostia Story: 1608-1930

Follow the history and development of Anacostia, a neighborhood in southeast Washington, DC from pre-1608 to 1930.

March 6, 1977 – January 8, 1978

Anacostia Community Museum

Miniature Zoo

Be charmed by a collection of 19th century animal figures, toy zoos, Noah's arks and other miniature fauna.

December 15, 1978 – March 30, 1978

National Zoo

Kids as Architects

Enjoy 13 imaginative drawings by elementary school students that represent their ideas for such projects as an "Energy House", a "Snug-a-Bug House", "Hideaway for Two", and "Kids Only Town".

December 16, 1977 – August 13, 1978

Renwick Gallery

Phil Ratner's Washington

Artist and art teacher Phil Ratner creates drawings, sculptures, and portraits to honor his hometown of Washington, DC. His students at Anacostia High School contribute drawings and a mural to the exhibition.

April 16, 1978 – August 27, 1978

Anacostia Community Museum

The Animal in Art

See the work of local artists, involved in assisting with the three Sunday "Sketch-Ins" at the zoo.

November 20, 1977 – October 31, 1978

National Zoo

DC Art Association - Exhibition '78

Members of the District of Columbia Art Association display artwork, including sculptures and paintings in oil, watercolor, and acrylic. Student work from Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Wilkinson Elementary School is also on display.

September 15, 1978 – November 12, 1978

Anacostia Community Museum

Teddy and the Bear

See the original Teddy bear made in 1903 by the Ideal Toy Company, inspired by an incident in which President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear cub.

December 1, 1978 – January 1, 1979

American History Museum

Ten Years of Sesame Street

Mark the 10th anniversary of the TV program with Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, part of the stage set and properties plus video tapes of shows.

June 1, 1979 – September 3, 1979

American History Museum

Child's Play

Enjoy an exhibition of 14 educational toys, the result of a juried international competition, that celebrate UNESCO'S International Year of the Child.

June 15, 1979 – September 9, 1979

Renwick Gallery

Wonder Woman: Symbol of the 80s

Examine the comic book character, "Wonder Woman", through this exhibition.

March 11, 1982 – May 4, 1982

American History Museum

Anna J. Cooper: A Voice from the South

Dr. Anna J. Cooper (1858-1964) was a pathbreaking educator, scholar, writer, community organizer, and civil rights activist in Washington, DC. Photographs, artifacts, and recreated home and classroom settings document her life and achievements.

February 1, 1981 – September 30, 1982

Anacostia Community Museum

"Here, Look at Mine!" - John N. Robinson and Larry Francis Lebby Art Show

John Robinson, a painter, and Larry Francis Lebby, a stone lithographer, come from different generations and geographies. Yet, vital themes of family, neighbors, and the natural environment link the artists.

November 14, 1982 – February 28, 1983

Anacostia Community Museum

Toys from the Nuremberg Spielzeug Museum

Delight in more than 75 toys from Nuremberg, an important German toy-manufacturing center since the 14th century. See dolls and doll carriages, doll-houses and their furnishings, blocks, pop-up books, a model railroad, games, mechanical, and optical toys.

March 4, 1986 – May 11, 1986

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Second Great International Paper Airplane Contest Winners

See the 40 winning entries in the Second Great International Paper Airplane Contest sponsored by NASM, Science 85 and Seattle's Museum of Flight, along with the paper airplane flown by Senator Jake Garn on a recent space shuttle mission.

July 24, 1985 – November 4, 1986

Air and Space Museum

Surprise! Surprise! Pop-up and Movable Books

Visit a selection of pop-up books representing subjects ranging from medicine to children's fairy tales, including examples by Lothar Meggendorfer and others.

October 27, 1987 – February 21, 1988

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Real McCoy: African-American Invention and Innovation, 1619-1930

African American inventors, from prominent figures such as George Washington Carver to anonymous innovators, have made important contributions to American technology.

May 21, 1989 – May 31, 1990

Anacostia Community Museum

20th-century Dinosaurs

Marvel at 24 large, colorful, welded sculptures of dinosaurs by Jim Gary, made out of automobile and truck parts.

April 12, 1990 – August 10, 1990

Natural History Museum

Drawings and Things by Rowland Emett

Take a light-hearted look at aircraft and spacecraft, Including drawings, paintings, and artistic machines by the artist who created the moving sculpture Pussiewillow II for the Air and Space Museum.

December 21, 1989 – November 26, 1990

Air and Space Museum