June Programs at SAAM

Featured Program
Pride Family Day
Saturday, June 1, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Kogod Courtyard
Free | Registration encouraged

Celebrate Pride with your chosen family at SAAM. Start the day with a performance by DC’s Different Drummers, followed by GenOUT, the youth chorus of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC. Then move your body to the Brazilian beats of Batalá Washington.

Attendees can make rainbow-themed crafts, and face painting will be available for visitors ages 12 and under. Enjoy special treats from the Courtyard Café and explore the galleries with a scavenger hunt to learn more about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community to American art.

Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women Open House
Friday, June 7, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. 

Join curators and artists for the opening of the Renwick Gallery’s newest exhibition, Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women, featuring artworks from SAAM’s collection. Grounded in the experiences and perspectives of women of diverse backgrounds, this exhibition provides an alternative, feminist history of American art.

Listen to a gallery talk from SAAM curator Mary Savig and get an in-depth look into creating this exhibition, then mingle with artists like L’Merchie Frazier, Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, Lia Cook, Ed Johnetta Miller, and Susan Iverson to discuss their creative processes and featured artworks.

Conservation Workshop: Caring for Quilts
Saturday, June 8, 9 a.m. 

Join textile conservator Julia Brennan in a gallery talk about her efforts to conserve quilts featured in SAAM’s exhibition, Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women, before attending a hands-on workshop to learn about quilt conservation, repair and stabilization methods, proper storage, and handling techniques for heirloom textiles.

Attendees will receive a kit to practice their stitching and stabilization skills and sample housing materials as participants cannot bring their own quilts to the workshop.

Tickets are $30 and include the cost of materials provided during the workshop. 

This conservation workshop will be repeated on Saturday, August 10; please register for either the June 8 or August 10 program. 

Beyond the Studio Workshop: Oil Pastels with Lea Craigie
Sunday, June 9, 1 p.m. 

Celebrate summer with a workshop presented by native Washingtonian, arts educator, and multidisciplinary artist Lea Craigie. Participants will learn about Lea’s practice as she explains the basics of working with oil pastels and shares tips for creating their own masterpieces.

Tickets are $15 and include the cost of materials needed for the activity. Please note space is limited for this program and registration is required. Participants must register by 7 p.m. ET on June 2.

Art in the A.M.
Tuesday, June 11, 10:30 a.m.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Meet in the G Street Lobby
Free | Registration required

Spark your imagination with SAAM during Art in the A.M. Children ages 0-5 and their caregivers are invited to the museum before hours to learn, connect, and create in the galleries.

In this program, participants will learn about some of the historical figures featured in the exhibition Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice and then create their own William H. Johnson-inspired collage portrait.

Please note space is limited for this program and registration is required.

Art Signs: Artful Conversations in ASL
Thursday, June 13, 5:30 p.m.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Meet in the F Street Lobby
Free | Registration required

Curious about American art? Join us for a 30-minute in-person conversation about selected works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection. This program is presented in American Sign Language (ASL) with voice interpretation for hearing participants.

Converse with a Conservator: Caring for Fighters for Freedom
Tuesday, June 18, 5:30 p.m.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Meet in the G Street Lobby
Free | Registration encouraged

Join Keara Teeter, the Meisel Conservator of Modern American Paintings, for a gallery talk about the conservation process for artworks in SAAM’s exhibition Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice. Discover how art meets science through conserving and preparing select paintings for travel and display in the museum’s galleries.

Virtual Fighters for Freedom Juneteenth Conversation
Tuesday, June 18, 7 p.m. 

Explore how artist William H. Johnson depicted the history behind the fight for freedom and the abolition of slavery in the United States in this exciting virtual talk.

SAAM’s Augusta Savage Curator of African American Art, Dalila Scruggs, will moderate a conversation between Hampton University Art Museum Curator of Collections, Kenlontae’ Turner, and SAAM’s Teacher Institutes Educator, Phoebe Hillemann, as they discuss two key works on loan from the Hampton University Art Museum, as well as other works featured in SAAM’s exhibition Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice.

Learn about the role SAAM and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), like Hampton University, have played in preserving William H. Johnson’s work as well as the connections between the subjects of Johnson’s Fighters for Freedom series and the history and celebration of Juneteenth.

Take 5: Jazz at SAAM with Janel Leppin
Thursday, June 20, 5–7 p.m. 

Celebrate a uniquely American art form with Take 5: Jazz at SAAM, a series of free, live performances in the Kogod Courtyard. Janel Leppin, a cellist, composer, arranger, and singer, has been a part of Washington, DC’s creative music community for the last 20 years. She will perform a mix of chamber and experimental jazz with her seven-piece group, Ensemble Volcanic Ash, and as part of the duo Janel and Anthony.

Borrow a board game to play during the concert and stop by the Courtyard Café to purchase refreshments.

Eye-Popping Art: Tours for People with Colorblindness
Thursday, June 20, 5:30 p.m. 

Want to see art in a new light? SAAM welcomes those who are colorblind for an in-person exploration of selected works from the museum’s collection. Rediscover old favorites and learn about other offerings on a docent-led tour using museum-provided colorblind correcting glasses.

Handi-hour
Thursday, June 27, 5:30 p.m. 

Celebrate the start of summer with a night of crafting, art, and fun at the Renwick Gallery! Make a pressed flower lantern and enjoy drinks provided by ANXO Cider. Light snacks, crafting materials, two drinks, and after-hours access to the second floor of the Renwick Gallery are included in the price of the ticket.

Attendees must be 21+ to attend and show a valid ID at the door. Please note space is limited for this program and registration is required. Tickets are $25 and available beginning June 13.

Art Bites Gallery Talk 
Friday, June 28, 12:15 p.m. 

Join SAAM’s research fellows for this lunchtime series of gallery talks as they share new discoveries about artworks on view. Learn the stories behind these objects and how each one tells us about an ever-changing culture in the United States. Kéla Jackson, Terra Foundation Predoctoral Fellow in American Art, discusses L'Merchie Frazier’s  From a Birmingham Jail: MLK.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is able to create and share experiences like these thanks to funding from generous supporters like you. Thank you for ensuring that American art is available to all. Donate to support SAAM.

Pride Family Day; Photo by Norwood Photography

Emma Amos, Winning, 1982, acrylic on linen with hand-woven fabric, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Catherine Walden Myer Fund, 2019.15, © 1982, Ryan Lee Gallery, New York

Quilt conservation; Photo by Laura Hoffman  

Lea Craigie; Photo courtesy of the artist   

William H. Johnson, Harriet Tubman, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.1146

Artful Signs; Photo by Mary Tait

Fighters for Freedom conservation; Photo by Laura Hoffman

William H. Johnson, Three Great Freedom Fighters, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, Collection of the Hampton University Museum

Janel Leppin; Photo by Shervin Lainez

Mickalene Thomas, Portrait of Mnonja, 2010, rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.16, © 2010, Mickalene Thomas

Handi-hour; Photo by Norwood Photography

L'Merchie Frazier, From a Birmingham Jail: MLK, 1996, silk, photo transfer, gel medium, dyes, and beads, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of L’Merchie Frazier in memory of Watty and Alberta Frazier and James and Merchie Dooley (grandparents), 2002.41

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