What’s On
As we gradually reopen the museums, we’re putting safety first and requiring free timed-entry passes at most locations. See our reopening schedule to plan your visit. Outdoor gardens and exhibitions are open.
Upcoming Featured Events
Featured Exhibitions
With over two hundred exhibitions to choose from, we've highlighted select exhibitions from around the Smithsonian—or check out all of our exhibitions.
Outdoor Gardens and Exhibitions
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Food for the People: Eating and Activism in Greater Washington
April 17, 2021 – September 17, 2022 Anacostia Community Museum
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Men of Change: Taking it to the Streets
February 1, 2021 – August 31, 2021 Anacostia Community Museum
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Habitat
May 10, 2019 – December 31, 2021 Smithsonian Gardens
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Common Ground: Our American Garden
June 28, 2017 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Urban Bird Habitat Garden
July 25, 2012 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Native American Landscape
September 21, 2004 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Victory Garden
Spring 2001 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose Garden
October 7, 1998 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Pollinator Garden
June 30, 1995 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
May 25, 1988 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Enid A. Haupt Garden
May 22, 1987 – Permanent Smithsonian Gardens
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Sculpture Garden and Plaza
October 4, 1974 – Indefinitely Hirshhorn
Art and Design
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New on View: Dawoud Bey and William H. Johnson
May 14, 2021 – August 8, 2021 American Art Museum
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Visionary: The Cumming Family Collection (Part 2)
May 14, 2021 – October 31, 2021 Portrait Gallery
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¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now
November 20, 2020 – August 8, 2021 American Art Museum
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Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020
October 16, 2020 – August 15, 2021 Renwick Gallery
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Recent Acquisitions: Gifts from the Corcoran Gallery of Art
October 9, 2020 – October 23, 2022 Portrait Gallery
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Her Story: A Century of Women Writers
September 18, 2020 – January 23, 2022 Portrait Gallery
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Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture
September 18, 2020 – July 11, 2021 American Art Museum
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Janet Echelman's 1.8 Renwick
September 18, 2020 – 2022 Renwick Gallery
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The Automobile and American Art
September 18, 2020 – Indefinitely American Art Museum
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Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
March 12, 2019 – March 6, 2022 Renwick Gallery
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America's Presidents
September 22, 2017 – Permanent Portrait Gallery
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Folk and Self-Taught Art
October 21, 2016 – Indefinitely American Art Museum
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Visual Art and the American Experience
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Experience America
August 14, 2014 – Permanent American Art Museum
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The Struggle for Justice
February 12, 2010 – Permanent Portrait Gallery
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Out of Many
July 1, 2006 – Permanent Portrait Gallery
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Twentieth-Century Americans
July 1, 2006 – Permanent Portrait Gallery
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American Art through 1940
July 1, 2006 – Indefinitely American Art Museum
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Art Since 1945
July 1, 2006 – Indefinitely American Art Museum
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Modern and Contemporary Art
July 1, 2006 – Indefinitely American Art Museum
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Luce Foundation Center for American Art
July 1, 2006 – Permanent American Art Museum
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Bravo!
July 1, 2006 – Indefinitely Portrait Gallery
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Champions
July 1, 2006 – Indefinitely Portrait Gallery
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Sculpture Garden and Plaza
October 4, 1974 – Indefinitely Hirshhorn
History and Culture
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Picturing Women Inventors
May 21, 2021 – TBD American History Museum
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The Only One in the Room: Women Achievers in Business and the Cost of Success
November 20, 2020 – TBA American History Museum
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Girlhood (It's Complicated)
October 9, 2020 – January 2, 2022 American History Museum
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Creating Icons: How We Remember Women's Suffrage
March 6, 2020 – TBA American History Museum
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Uncle Tom's Cabin: Early and Notable Editions
February 28, 2020 Through February 2022 African American Museum
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Illegal to Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall
June 21, 2019 – July 6, 2021 American History Museum
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75th Anniversary of D-Day
June 6, 2019 – TBD American History Museum
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More Doctors Smoke Camels: A Close Reading of Historical Advertising
April 5, 2019 – TBD American History Museum
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All Work and No Pay: A History of Women's Invisible Labor
March 4, 2019 – TBD American History Museum
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Ruby Slippers and American Culture Displays
October 19, 2018 – 2020 American History Museum
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Special Olympics at 50
July 10, 2018 – TBD American History Museum
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Art in Industry
March 22, 2018 – TBA American History Museum
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Americans
January 18, 2018 Through 2022 American Indian Museum
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American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
June 28, 2017 – Permanent American History Museum
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Many Voices, One Nation
June 28, 2017 – Permanent American History Museum
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Wallace H. Coulter Unity Square
June 28, 2017 – Permanent American History Museum
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Sounding American Music
June 21, 2017 – TBD American History Museum
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Giving in America
November 29, 2016 – Permanent American History Museum
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Cultural Expressions
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Taking the Stage
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Slavery and Freedom
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: Era of Segregation 1876-1968
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Power of Place
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Making a Way Out of No Way
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Double Victory: The African American Military Experience
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Musical Crossroads
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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A Century in the Making: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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American Enterprise
July 1, 2015 – Permanent American History Museum
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The Value of Money
July 1, 2015 – Permanent American History Museum
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Patrick F. Taylor Object Project
July 1, 2015 – Permanent American History Museum
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The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire
June 26, 2015 – June 27, 2021 American Indian Museum
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Nation to Nation: Treaties between the United States and American Indian Nations
September 21, 2014 – December 25, 2025 American Indian Museum
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As We Grow: Traditions, Toys, Games
August 22, 2012 – Permanent American Indian Museum
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On the Water: Stories from Maritime America
May 22, 2009 – Permanent American History Museum
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The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem
November 21, 2008 – Permanent American History Museum
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Landmark Objects
November 21, 2008 – Permanent American History Museum
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The Price of Freedom: Americans at War
November 11, 2004 – Permanent American History Museum
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Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World
September 21, 2004 – Spring 2022 American Indian Museum
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Window on Collections: Many Hands, Many Voices
September 21, 2004 – Permanent American Indian Museum
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America on the Move
November 22, 2003 – Permanent American History Museum
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Within These Walls
May 16, 2001 – Permanent American History Museum
Kids' Favorites
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Girlhood (It's Complicated)
October 9, 2020 – January 2, 2022 American History Museum
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The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils—Deep Time
June 8, 2019 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Mega-toothed Shark
May 24, 2019 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Sports: Leveling the Playing Field
September 24, 2016 – Indefinitely African American Museum
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African Elephant
September 4, 2015 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Patrick F. Taylor Object Project
July 1, 2015 – Permanent American History Museum
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Immersion Room
December 12, 2014 – Indefinitely Cooper Hewitt
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Connect with U.S. Stamps
September 22, 2013 – Permanent Postal Museum
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American Trail
September 1, 2012 – Permanent National Zoo
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As We Grow: Traditions, Toys, Games
August 22, 2012 – Permanent American Indian Museum
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Sant Ocean Hall
September 27, 2008 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Asia Trail
October 17, 2006 – Permanent National Zoo
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Airmail in America
February 22, 2006 – Permanent Postal Museum
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Human Spaceflight
November 1, 2004 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World
September 21, 2004 – Spring 2022 American Indian Museum
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Kids' Farm
June 12, 2004 – Permanent National Zoo
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America on the Move
November 22, 2003 – Permanent American History Museum
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Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals
November 15, 2003 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Explore the Universe
September 21, 2001 – Permanent Air and Space Museum
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Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals
September 20, 1997 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Space Race
May 16, 1997 – Permanent Air and Space Museum
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How Things Fly
September 20, 1996 – Permanent Air and Space Museum
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Moving the Mail
July 30, 1993 – Permanent Postal Museum
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Gunboat Philadelphia
July 3, 1965 – Permanent American History Museum
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The Dolls' House
Opened 1951 – Indefinitely American History Museum
Science and Nature
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Documenting Diversity: How Anthropologists Record Human Life
June 18, 2021 – July 18, 2021 Natural History Museum
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Unsettled Nature: Artists Reflect on the Age of Humans
June 18, 2021 – TBA Natural History Museum
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The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils—Deep Time
June 8, 2019 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Mega-toothed Shark
May 24, 2019 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Celebrate Smokey: 75 Years of Fighting Wildfires
May 23, 2019 – TBD National Zoo
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Sea Monsters Unearthed, Life in Angola's Ancient Seas
November 9, 2018 – November 2021 Natural History Museum
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Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World
May 18, 2018 – Fall 2021 Natural History Museum
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African Elephant
September 4, 2015 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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American Bison
August 30, 2014 – Permanent National Zoo
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FossiLab
June 2014 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Elephant Trails
September 3, 2010 – Permanent National Zoo
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The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins: What Does It Mean To Be Human?
March 17, 2010 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Sant Ocean Hall
September 27, 2008 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Asia Trail
October 17, 2006 – Permanent National Zoo
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Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals
November 15, 2003 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Reptile Discovery Center
National Zoo
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Great Cats
October 1, 1998 – Permanent National Zoo
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Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals
September 20, 1997 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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Think Tank
October 27, 1995 – Permanent National Zoo
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Cheetah Conservation Station
August 19, 1992 – Permanent National Zoo
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Primates
April 15, 1981 – Permanent National Zoo
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Lighting a Revolution
October 9, 1979 – Permanent American History Museum
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Birds of the District of Columbia
August 24, 1979 – Permanent Natural History Museum
Featured, Don't Miss
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Girlhood (It's Complicated)
October 9, 2020 – January 2, 2022 American History Museum
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Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
March 12, 2019 – March 6, 2022 Renwick Gallery
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Ruby Slippers and American Culture Displays
October 19, 2018 – 2020 American History Museum
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Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World
May 18, 2018 – Fall 2021 Natural History Museum
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Americans
January 18, 2018 Through 2022 American Indian Museum
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Mark Bradford: Pickett's Charge
November 8, 2017 – TBA Hirshhorn
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Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts
November 4, 2017 – Permanent African Art Museum
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America's Presidents
September 22, 2017 – Permanent Portrait Gallery
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American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
June 28, 2017 – Permanent American History Museum
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Many Voices, One Nation
June 28, 2017 – Permanent American History Museum
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Greensboro Lunch Counter
June 28, 2017 – Indefinitely American History Museum
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Slavery and Freedom
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Musical Crossroads
September 24, 2016 – Permanent African American Museum
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Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall
July 1, 2016 – Permanent Air and Space Museum
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The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire
June 26, 2015 – June 27, 2021 American Indian Museum
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Experience America
August 14, 2014 – Permanent American Art Museum
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Gems of American Philately
September 22, 2013 – Permanent Postal Museum
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Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There
April 12, 2013 – Permanent Air and Space Museum
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Food: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000
November 20, 2012 – Indefinitely American History Museum
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Barbara Kruger: Belief + Doubt
August 20, 2012 – TBA Hirshhorn
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Systems at Work
December 14, 2011 – Permanent Postal Museum
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Sant Ocean Hall
September 27, 2008 – Permanent Natural History Museum
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World War II Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Binding the Nation
July 30, 1993 – Permanent Postal Museum
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Va.
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Clouds in a Bag: The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection
January 28, 2017 – Indefinitely Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar
September 2011 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Human Spaceflight
November 1, 2004 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Applications Satellites
November 1, 2004 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Space Science
November 1, 2004 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Commercial Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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General Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Interwar Military Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Korea and Vietnam Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Aerobatic Flight
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Cold War Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Pre-1920 Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Rockets and Missiles
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Sport Aviation
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
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Ultralight Aircraft
December 15, 2003 – Permanent Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
Asia Meets America
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Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia
October 14, 2017 – January 17, 2022 Sackler Gallery
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Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands, 1968–2020
August 27, 2021 – May 29, 2022 Portrait Gallery
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Elephant Trails
September 3, 2010 – Permanent National Zoo
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Asia Trail
October 17, 2006 – Permanent National Zoo
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Many Voices, One Nation
June 28, 2017 – Permanent American History Museum
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Body Image: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Engaging the Senses: Arts of the Islamic World
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Promise of Paradise: Ancient Chinese Buddhist Sculpture
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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The Beginnings of Buddhism in Japan: Buddhist Art in Japan
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Imperfectly Beautiful: Inventing Japanese Ceramic Style
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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The Power of Words in an Age of Crisis: Buddhist Art in Japan
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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In the Shadow of an Apocalypse: Buddhist Art in Japan
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Rediscovering Korea's Past: Korean Ceramics
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song Dynasty
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Center of the World: China and the Silk Road
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Art and Industry: China's Ancient Houma Foundry: Chinese Bronzes
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades
October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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The Peacock Room in Blue and White
May 18, 2019 – Indefinitely Freer Gallery of Art
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Hokusai: Mad about Painting
November 23, 2019 – January 2021 Freer Gallery of Art
Closing Soon
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The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire
June 26, 2015 – June 27, 2021 American Indian Museum
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Illegal to Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall
June 21, 2019 – July 6, 2021 American History Museum
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Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture
September 18, 2020 – July 11, 2021 American Art Museum
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Contemporary Muslim Fashions
February 28, 2020 – July 11, 2021 Cooper Hewitt
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Documenting Diversity: How Anthropologists Record Human Life
June 18, 2021 – July 18, 2021 Natural History Museum
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¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now
November 20, 2020 – August 8, 2021 American Art Museum
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New on View: Dawoud Bey and William H. Johnson
May 14, 2021 – August 8, 2021 American Art Museum
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Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020
October 16, 2020 – August 15, 2021 Renwick Gallery
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Men of Change: Taking it to the Streets
February 1, 2021 – August 31, 2021 Anacostia Community Museum
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Willi Smith: Street Couture
March 13, 2020 – October 24, 2021 Cooper Hewitt
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Visionary: The Cumming Family Collection (Part 2)
May 14, 2021 – October 31, 2021 Portrait Gallery
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Habitat
May 10, 2019 – December 31, 2021 Smithsonian Gardens
