Exhibitions

Newsroom of the Smithsonian
Social Media Share Tools

View news releases below or see all of our publicly released upcoming exhibitions.

daguerreotype of antebellum soldier

Credit: Gouverneur Kemble Warren by an unidentified daguerreotypist. Half-plate daguerreotype with applied color,

c. 1850. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Purchase funded by the photography
acquisitions endowment by the Joseph L. and Emily K. Gidwitz Memorial Foundation

National Portrait Gallery Presents “Duty, Honor, Country: Antebellum Portraits of West Pointers”
On View June 23–June 9, 2024
06.07.2023
Portrait Gallery Exhibitions
Jessica Diamond text
Jessica Diamond’s Meditation on Life To Be Explored in Text-Based Exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Artist Follows Laurie Anderson and Barbara Kruger in Transforming Gallery Walls With Text-Based Work July 14–June 2, 2024
06.06.2023
Hirshhorn Museum Exhibitions
cell phone cases
New Smithsonian Exhibition Examines the Cultural Nature of Cellphones
“Cellphone: Unseen Connections” Will Allow Visitors To Contemplate the Intersection of Technology, Nature and Culture at Their Fingertips
05.30.2023
Natural History Museum Exhibitions
Composite photo of infant gorilla and adult gorlla

Left: Newborn gorilla cradled by mother Calaya, a 20-year-old female western lowland gorilla. She gave birth to her second offspring May 27 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. (Photo by Valerie Schultz, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

Right: Calaya, a 20-year-old female western lowland gorilla, gave birth to her second offspring May 27 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.(Photo by Skip Brown, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

Western Lowland Gorilla Born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
05.30.2023
Conservation Biology Institute National Zoo Exhibitions New Acquisitions Administrative News
Woman in red shirt and shoes poses on hood of car

Shelley Niro (Six Nations Reserve, Bay of Quinte Mohawk, Turtle Clan, b. 1954), “The Rebel,” 1987. Hand-tinted gelatin silver print. Collection of the artist.

First Major Retrospective of Mohawk Artist Shelley Niro’s Work To Go on View at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York
Exhibition Confronts the Challenges of Being Indigenous and Female in the United States and Canada
05.22.2023
American Indian Museum Heye Center Exhibitions
detail from Robert Houle painting
First Major Retrospective for Artist Robert Houle To Go on View at the National Museum of the American Indian
Exhibition Celebrates More Than 50 Years of the Artist’s Work
05.19.2023
American Indian Museum Exhibitions
Surfer and Outrigger Canoe

44¢ Surfer and Outrigger Canoe single, 1959

Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum Launches New Virtual Exhibition
Complete Collection of U.S. Postage Stamps Honoring Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Americans or Their History and Culture
05.19.2023
Postal Museum Exhibitions
Graphic logo for Girlhood exhibition

Artwork by Krystal Quiles for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Smithsonian Exhibition Amplifying Role of Girls in History Is Hitting the Road
“Girlhood (It’s complicated)” To Begin National Tour in June at Minnetrista Museum & Gardens
05.18.2023
Traveling Exhibition Service Exhibitions
Portrait of Frederick DOuglass

Credit: Frederick Douglass by an unidentified artist. Oil on canvas, c. 1845. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

National Portrait Gallery Presents “One Life: Frederick Douglass”
On View June 16–April 21, 2024
05.16.2023
Portrait Gallery Exhibitions
CHildren in Chef Camp T-shirts harvesting vegetables

Photo courtesy Fairbury Improvement Group
 

Smithsonian Showcases Innovation in Rural America in New Traveling Exhibition
Simultaneous Tours Begin in Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan
05.15.2023
Traveling Exhibition Service Exhibitions
Boynayel Mota of the music and cultural group Taiguabo Yukayeke Kiskeya

 

Boynayel Mota, of the music and cultural group Taiguabo Yukayeke Kiskeya, overlooks the mountains of his Indigenous ancestors in Maguana Arriba, Dominican Republic. Photo by Delvin Ortega, Ortega Films, Dominican Republic, Aug. 17, 2021.

Indigenous Legacy of the Caribbean Featured in New Smithsonian Exhibition
Tour Launches at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida, May 13
05.11.2023
Traveling Exhibition Service Exhibitions
Woman wearing headphones with tribal decorations

Lily Hope, “Memorial Beats,” 2021, thigh-spun merino and cedar bark with copper, headphones, and audio files, 16 x 4 x 10 in., The Hope Family Trust. Photo by Sydney Akagi.

New Work by Native American and Alaska Native Artists on Display at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Tenth Installment of the Renwick Invitational Opens May 26
05.09.2023
Renwick Gallery Exhibitions
ACM mural by Amir Khadar

Mural by Amir Khadar, courtesy Anacostia Community Museum

Anacostia Community Museum Presents “To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.”
Exhibition Opens May 19
05.02.2023
Anacostia Community Museum Exhibitions
Promotional photo of artist Baseera Khan

Courtesy of Baseera Khan

Baseera Khan Debuts Artwork Commissioned During MTV and Smithsonian Channel Television Docuseries, The Exhibit, May 4 at the Hirshhorn
Presentation Includes Artist Lecture and Conversation, May 25
05.01.2023
Hirshhorn Museum Exhibitions
Entrance to Mirror Mirror exhibition at NMAH

National Museum of American History

“Mirror, Mirror” Reflects the American Narrative
Smithsonian Exhibition Explores Disney Parks Through Maps, Objects, Stories and Photos
04.27.2023
American History Museum Exhibitions
Large green gem on black background

Photo by Jeff Scovil, courtesy of Bridges Tsavorite

Smithsonian Unveils Superb Lion of Merelani Gem
Spectacular Tsavorite Gemstone Goes on Public View in the National Museum of Natural History’s Gem Hall
04.13.2023
Natural History Museum Exhibitions
White caribou seen walking across a wintery scene with mountains and evergreen trees in the background

 Photo Courtesy Stephen Loring

Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Examines the Importance of the Boreal Forest
National Tour Begins April 19 at Michigan State University Museum in East Lansing, Michigan
04.12.2023
Traveling Exhibition Service Exhibitions
"Pullman Porters" by Hooks Brothers

Hooks Brothers, "Pullman Porters," undated, silver emulsion photograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Dr. Robert L. Drapkin Collection, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment. 

Smithsonian American Art Museum Acquisition of Expansive Collection From Robert Drapkin Doubles Its Authoritative Holdings of African American Photography
Images Represent African American History and Culture From the 1840s Through the 1970s
03.30.2023
American Art Museum Exhibitions
President William McKinley

"President William McKinley" by Francisco Oller y Cestero, oil on canvas, 1898. Collection of Dr. Eduardo Pérez and family.

National Portrait Gallery Presents “1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions” April 28–Feb. 25, 2024
First Major Smithsonian Exhibition To Examine the U.S. Intervention in Cuba and U.S. Expansion Into Guam, Hawaiʻi, Puerto Rico and the Philippines
03.28.2023
Portrait Gallery Exhibitions
Two baby bears wander around a grassy area

Two male Andean bear cubs named Sean and Ian are now on view at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C. Credit: Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Andean Bear Cub Brothers Now on View Outdoors at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
03.27.2023
National Zoo Exhibitions
Illustration of postage stamp and baseball with text: "National Postal Museum. Baseball: Americas Home Run"
Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum To Showcase New Objects in Baseball Exhibition
“Baseball: America’s Home Run” Reopens March 25
03.23.2023
Postal Museum Exhibitions
Exterior of African Art museum
“From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson” Opens April 29 at National Museum of African Art
Exhibition Imagines Powerful Underwater World of African Spirits
03.21.2023
African Art Museum Exhibitions
Purple graphic with text: Afrofuturism, A History of Black Futures
Objects From OutKast, Octavia Butler and Marvel’s “Black Panther” on Display in National Museum of African American History and Culture’s New “Afrofuturism” Exhibition
“Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” Opens March 24
03.09.2023
African American Museum Exhibitions
Person standing on a beach with headphones on and arms raised

Lily Hope, Memorial Beats, 2021, thigh-spun merino and cedar bark with copper, headphones, and audio files, 16 x 4 x 10 in., The Hope Family Trust. Photo by Sydney Akagi.

“Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023” Opens May 26 at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Exhibition Features New Work by Six Native Artists
03.09.2023
American Art Museum Exhibitions

Pages