Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Sculptures by Paul Manship

From the museum's collection of nearly 500 works by Paul Manship (1885-1966) are 25 of his graceful sculptures.

July 15, 2007 – January 7, 2015

The Journey: A National Juried Exhibition for Emerging Artists with Disabilities, Ages 16-25

Emerging artists showcase work that illuminates innovative viewpoints at the intersection of sustainability, creativity, and disability.

September 17, 2014 – January 5, 2015

Ripley Center

Indelible: The Platinum Photographs of Larry McNeil and Will Wilson

Photographers Larry McNeil (Tlingit/Nisgaá) and Will Wilson (Diné/Bilagaana) challenge the romanticizing softness of 19th-century images of the “Vanishing Race.”

June 7, 2014 – January 5, 2015

American Indian Museum DC

Making a Modern Museum: Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the National Museum of American History

Retrace the history of the museum from its origins in the 1960s as the Museum of History and Technology to today's National Museum of American History.

May 16, 2014 – January 4, 2015

American History Museum

Ubuhle Women: Beadwork and the Art of Independence

Learn about a new form of bead art and how Ubuhle women transform the beadwork surface into a contemporary work of art.

December 9, 2013 – January 4, 2015

Anacostia Community Museum

Sylvan Sounds: Freer, Dewing, and Japan

Landscapes by Thomas Dewing are juxtaposed with Japanese works that Freer acquired in the late 1890s to illuminate the connection between Freer's taste for Japanese art and his affection for American tonalist paintings.

May 18, 2013 – January 4, 2015

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Pacific Exchange: China & U.S. Mail

Examine the relationship between China and the United States through stamps and mail.

March 6, 2014 – January 4, 2015

Postal Museum

The Religious Art of Japan

Important works from the Freer's collection of Japanese religious art are exhibited.

December 21, 2002 – January 4, 2015

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

1965 Ford Mustang

An silver-blue 1965 Ford Mustang evokes 1964, the year the museum opened to the public.

April 25, 2014 – January 4, 2015

American History Museum

Chinese Ceramics: 10th-13th Century

Chinese ceramics highlight glazes and the skills of Song dynasty artisans.

November 5, 2011 – January 3, 2015

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

First 3-D Printed Presidential Life Mask and Bust

The first presidential portraits created from 3-D scan data are on display. The portraits of President Barack Obama were created based on data collected by a Smithsonian-led team of 3-D digital imaging specialists and include a digital and 3-D printed bust and life mask.

December 2, 2014 – December 31, 2014

Smithsonian Castle

Africa ReViewed: The Photographic Legacy of Eliot Elisofon

Be transported to mid-20th-century Africa through Eliot Elisofon's photographs, collected objects, films, and journals.

November 21, 2013 – December 14, 2014

African Art Museum

The Great Picture

See a 3,375-square-foot photograph taken in 2006 by the largest pinhole camera in the world.

April 26, 2014 – November 17, 2014

Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center

Marian Anderson: Artist and Symbol

See Marian Anderson's orange-and-black velvet ensemble, which she wore during her historic Easter Sunday performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on April 9,1939.

April 8, 2014 – November 11, 2014

American History Museum

Yousuf Karsh: American Portraits, Part II

Photographic portraits by Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002) include those of Georgia O'Keeffe, Jonas Salk, Marian Anderson, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Arden, I.M. Pei, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

May 2, 2014 – November 2, 2014

Portrait Gallery

"Out of Many, One" by Jorge Rodriquez-Gerada

Rodríguez-Gerada will use several images of people photographed in Washington, D.C., to create a composite portrait that will not only be an interactive walk-through experience for visitors but will also be viewable from the newly reopened Washington Monument and from space.

October 1, 2014 – October 31, 2014

Portrait Gallery

Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Song Legacy

This exhibition showcases a group of the Freer's best Song dynasty landscape paintings along with later works that illustrate the evolution of six different styles.

May 17, 2014 – October 26, 2014

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Rex Room

See what it takes to put a T. rex on view while the museum processes and scans this huge skeleton, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

April 15, 2014 – October 20, 2014

Natural History Museum

Black Box: Oliver Laric

Video installation showing recent work by contemporary Austrian artist Oliver Laric.

May 30, 2014 – October 5, 2014

Hirshhorn Museum

Off the Beaten Path: Early Works by James McNeill Whistler

See how Whistler's trip to the countryside of the Rhineland was instrumental in forming his mature artistic style and choice of subject matter.

September 28, 2013 – September 28, 2014

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Spirit & Opportunity: 10 Years Roving across Mars

See amazing images from Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity on the 10th anniversary of their landings on the Red Planet.

January 3, 2014 – September 14, 2014

Air and Space Museum

Chinese Ceramics for Tea in Japan

See bowls, small jars, and other ceramics used as tea utensils in 16th-century Japan.

March 8, 2014 – September 14, 2014

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Robert Davidson: Abstract Impulse

Approximately 45 works—paintings, prints, jewelry, and sculpture—explore the theme of abstraction as an extension of Haida art and philosophy.

April 12, 2014 – September 14, 2014

American Indian Museum New York

Bountiful Waters: Aquatic Life in Japanese Art

Prints, paintings, illustrated books, and ceramics depict Japanese appreciation for the beauty and variety of fish and other species.

March 8, 2014 – September 14, 2014

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

U.S.S. Starship Enterprise Model

This model of the starship Enterprise was used in the filming of the Star Trek TV show, which ran from 1966 to 1969.

1976 – September 10, 2014

Air and Space Museum