Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

After Totems: Love, Distress and Moss

See a site-specific installation by Washington artist Yvonne Pickering Carter that uses fragments of paper and wood to explore notions of challenge, healing, and growth.

October 21, 2002 – August 31, 2003

Anacostia Community Museum

The Color Yellow: Beauford Delaney

View an exhibition of approximately 30 paintings that explore the artist's use of the color yellow in his figurative and abstract works.

October 21, 2002 – January 1, 2003

Anacostia Community Museum

In the Arms of the Elders

Explore the many faces of seniors through the eyes of 5 Washington-area photographers in this exhibition of 60 photographs and various artifacts.

October 21, 2002 – January 1, 2003

Anacostia Community Museum

Roles, Reactions and Reality: The Collection of Robert Guillaume

Take a look at the unique film-television-theater collection that documents the stereotype-breaking career of this Emmy Award-winning actor and producer.

October 21, 2002 – January 1, 2003

Anacostia Community Museum

Precious Memories: Collectors' Passion

Explore the work of citizen preservationists and cultural historians who are major collectors of African American art, memorabilia, and archival objects.

February 11, 2002 – September 30, 2002

Anacostia Community Museum

Sculptures by Bill Taylor

View carved and welded works by Washington, D.C., sculptor Bill Taylor that reveal the dignity and elegance of the female form.

February 11, 2002 – September 30, 2002

Anacostia Community Museum

Main Event: The Ali/Foreman Extravaganza through the Lens of Howard L. Bingham

View rare glimpses into the world of boxing through 123 photographs by Howard L. Bingham of the "Rumble in the Jungle" -- the Ali/Foreman boxing match of October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, Zaire.

January 19, 2002 – March 27, 2002

Anacostia Community Museum

When the Spirit Moves: African American Dance in History and Art

See more than 300 paintings, photographs, sculpture, and archival objects -- some dating to the early 1600s -- used to trace African American dance from its roots in west and central Africa through the 20th century.

December 14, 2000 – June 1, 2001

Anacostia Community Museum

Speak to My Heart: Communities of Faith and Contemporary African American Life

View documents, photographs, and music that explore the role of the black church in major American cities, including Washington, DC.

May 22, 1998 – September 19, 2000

Anacostia Community Museum

Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present

Since photography’s advent, black photographers have played a central role in influencing how African Americans visualized themselves.

February 4, 2000 – July 16, 2000

Anacostia Community Museum

Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity

See nearly 200 textile art works that illustrate the rich diversity of traditional kente cloth, its historical role in African societies, and its growing popularity in the United States.

September 12, 1999 – January 2, 2000

Anacostia Community Museum

Revue Noire: Africa by Africans

View more than a century's worth of images spotlighting the African family, studio portraiture dating to 1900, and official press photography of the 1960s.

May 25, 1999 – January 2, 2000

Anacostia Community Museum

Through These Eyes: The Photography of P.H. Polk

See more than 100 photographs by P. H. Polk (1898-1984) portray southern life in its many moods.

October 1, 1999 – December 1, 1999

Anacostia Community Museum

Locating the Spirit: Religion and Spirituality in African American Art: Part 2

See over 85 paintings by some 50 artists that reveal how African American artists use art to express religion and spirituality.

July 16, 1999 – December 1, 1999

Anacostia Community Museum

Alma W. Thomas: A Retrospective

Alma W. Thomas taught art at Shaw Junior High School in Washington, D.C. Retirement launched her meteoric artistic career.

July 16, 1999 – September 12, 1999

Anacostia Community Museum

Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered

This photo exhibition documents the passion and the pride revealed during the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1968.

April 29, 1999 – July 18, 1999

Anacostia Community Museum

Classic Black

See some 100 rare photographs that reveal the rich and little-known history of African American dancers who performed classical ballet from the 1930s through 1960s.

November 1, 1998 – April 30, 1999

Anacostia Community Museum

Communion of the Spirits: African American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories

This exhibition is a result of the first national survey of contemporary African American quilts, quilters, and quilt preservers.

November 19, 1998 – March 30, 1999

Anacostia Community Museum

Eyewinkers, Tumbleturds, and Candlebugs: The Art of Elizabeth Talford Scott

Elizabeth Talford Scott takes the art of quilting in new directions to explore family roots and American history.

November 1, 1998 – January 2, 1999

Anacostia Community Museum

African American Fiber Artists

View an exhibition that features textile, fiber, and wearable art.

June 6, 1998 – October 11, 1998

Anacostia Community Museum

Resonant Forms: Contemporary African American Women Sculptors

See sculpture and installation art by 8 women artists that explores black women's representation and experiences.

April 13, 1998 – September 30, 1998

Anacostia Community Museum

Three Generations of African American Women Sculptors: A Study in Paradox

View works by 10 artists that trace the history of sculpture into the present.

April 13, 1998 – September 30, 1998

Anacostia Community Museum

Man Made: African-American Men and Quilting Traditions

African American men have made significant contributions to quilting, an art form primarily associated with women. The “Man-Made” quilts on display range in style from the traditional to the contemporary.

January 18, 1998 – September 8, 1998

Anacostia Community Museum

Muhammad Ali: A Thirty-Year Journey

See some 30 photographs by photojournalist Howard L. Bingham that capture Muhammad Ali in the ring and behind the scenes during the boxer's career.

January 18, 1998 – September 8, 1998

Anacostia Community Museum

Caribbean Visions: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture

See some 100 works by 56 painters and sculptors that illustrate creativity in the Caribbean region during the past 50 years.

August 15, 1997 – October 4, 1997

Anacostia Community Museum