Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Wilderness America

Commemorate the Silver Anniversary of the Wilderness Society through photographs, maps, and text.

September 8, 1989 – November 26, 1989

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces

Why We Serve honors the generations of Native Americans who have served in the armed forces of the United States—often in extraordinary numbers—since the American Revolution.

November 11, 2020 – November 30, 2023

American Indian Museum New York

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces

Why We Serve honors the generations of Native Americans who have served in the armed forces of the United States since the American Revolution.

November 11, 2020 – February 28, 2021

American Indian Museum DC

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces

Why We Serve honors the generations of Native Americans who have served in the armed forces of the United States since the American Revolution.

November 10, 2021 – November 30, 2023

American Indian Museum DC

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces

This poignant exhibition tells personal stories of Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Native veterans who have served in the armed forces of the United States.

June 17, 2024 – April 29, 2025

American Indian Museum DC

Why Vote?

See how the artist DeWayne Barton uses poetry and campaign memorabilia to fashion a personal statement about voting, the electoral process, and African American disenfranchisement.

July 11, 2005 – October 16, 2005

Anacostia Community Museum

Why Not a Woman (for President)?

Meet Belva Ann Lockwood, the first woman candidate for President on the Equal Rights Party ticket in 1884, and the subject of a small exhibit.

August 22, 1980 – January 4, 1981

Portrait Gallery

Whose Art Is It, Anyway?: The Arts in Public Places

View an exhibition that explores the visual and performing arts in public spaces.

July 15, 1990 – September 16, 1990

Anacostia Community Museum

Who's in Charge: Workers and Managers in the U.S.

Artifacts, graphics, and photographs trace 150 years of conflict and change in labor relations. Included is a recently acquired ATM machine from the Dayton, Ohio, Society Bank.

February 10, 1996 – April 7, 1996

American History Museum

Who's Gonna Sing Our Song

See 25 photographs by students from the Johnson Jr. High School that document the Anacostia community.

October 3, 1992 – October 28, 1992

Anacostia Community Museum

Who Invented the Environment?

Compare society's ideal of nature and the reality measured by the scientific instruments in these 2 small cases.

September 11, 1998 – September 27, 1999

American History Museum

Whiz Bang: A Short History of Sound

This 20-minute slide presentation traces the history of sound from nature--thunder, water and birds--to electronic and industrial sounds.

October 7, 1983 – October 17, 1983

American History Museum

White House Needlepoint Christmas Ornaments

Admire a display of needlepoint Christmas ornaments used in the White House, including a Renwick ornament made by Barbara Bush.

January 15, 1993 – February 28, 1993

Renwick Gallery

White House Model

Featured is a 16 ft. by 60 ft. model, complete with White House wings, lawn, miniature televisions, and moveable guards.

February 10, 1992 – September 7, 1992

American History Museum

White House Families: Life Magazine Photographs of Presidential Children

Survey the photographs of the 23 surviving offspring of Presidents of the United States taken by photographer Harry Benson for LIFE magazine's November 1984 issue.

February 15, 1985 – April 1, 1985

Portrait Gallery

On view are Sally, the White House doll, and a silver rattle and tea set, all belonging to Mary Louisa Adams; and a bisque doll and Wedgewood tea set pitcher, playthings of Grover Cleveland's children.

January 1, 1977 – January 5, 1977

American History Museum

Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change

Experience works by American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) in a groundbreaking exhibition that explores European cities in an era of rapid change.

November 18, 2023 – May 4, 2024

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler's Nudes

View some 35 of Whistler's most beautiful pastels and lithographs featuring thinly dressed female models striking dramatic poses in his studio.

April 21, 2002 – January 5, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler's Neighborhood: Impressions of a Changing London

See how the Chelsea neighborhood of London rapidly changed in the 1880s through the eyes of artist James McNeill Whistler.

September 3, 2012 – September 3, 2013

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler's Greatest Etchings: The 1889 Amsterdam Set

Retrace the development of Whistler's artistry by comparing 14 rare Amsterdam impressions with major examples of the artist's earlier work as a printmaker.

June 28, 2003 – February 1, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler in Watercolor

Whistler in Watercolor introduces museum visitors to the artist’s vast creative output and provides wide access to a rarely seen segment of his work.

May 18, 2019 – November 3, 2019

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler in Venice: The Pastels

See 14 unusually beautiful and rare pastels that Whistler completed while in Venice between September 1879 and November 1880, capturing the varied moods of the watery city.

January 18, 2003 – June 15, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler in Paris: Lithographs from the Belle Epoque, 1891-1896

See 26 of the best of Whistler's lithographs, many of which offered unexpected glimpses of this artist as a contented family man.

February 21, 2004 – August 15, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler and the Thames

Visit a collection of etchings, lithographs, and litho tints, as well as an oil painting and one pastel drawing of London's Thames River by American artist James McNeill Whistler.

December 17, 2000 – June 17, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler and the Leylands

See 31 works--primarily etchings and drypoints--that focus on Whistler's printmaking career under the patronage of Frederick Richards Leyland, a Liverpool ship owner.

July 3, 1998 – June 6, 1999

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery