Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Invention at Play

This exhibition focuses on the similarities between the ways children and adults play and the creative skills and processes used by inventors.

November 21, 2008 – November 27, 2011

American History Museum

Exercise Your Mynd

See BK Adams's imaginary landscapes that draw upon his surroundings, using exuberant color, toys, and objects scavenged from everyday life.

August 22, 2011 – November 27, 2011

Anacostia Community Museum

Science in American Life

This exhibition examines the interaction between science and society from 1876 to the present.

April 27, 1994 – November 27, 2011

American History Museum

Discovering Rastafari!

This exhibition moves beyond the popular Jamaican music known as reggae to explore the origins and practice of the Rastafari religion.

November 2, 2007 – November 16, 2011

Natural History Museum

Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt Preview

Preview of the museum's largest exhibition of ancient Egyptian mummies and artifacts. Full exhibition opened Nov. 17, 2011.

April 5, 2011 – November 16, 2011

Natural History Museum

Recent Acquisitions

This exhibition of some 35 objects that have recently been added to the museum's collection spans centuries of American history and culture.

November 19, 2010 – November 13, 2011

Portrait Gallery

In his video Beirut, multimedia artist Hale Tenger filmed the facade of the St. George Hotel -- the site of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon -- during its renovation.

July 30, 2011 – November 6, 2011

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Archiving the History of an Epidemic: HIV and AIDS, 1985-2009

Archival materials reveal how individuals and society were affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

June 3, 2011 – November 1, 2011

American History Museum

Have You Heard the One about...? Phyllis Diller's Gag File

See how actress and stand-up comic Phyllis Diller kept track of her trove of 50,000 jokes.

August 12, 2011 – October 30, 2011

American History Museum

Directions: Grazia Toderi

Using computer animation to manipulate her images, Italian artist Grazia Toderi creates video projections that are like frescoes of light.

April 21, 2011 – October 23, 2011

Hirshhorn Museum

NASA / ART: 50 Years of Exploration

Art commissioned by the NASA Art Program communicates the accomplishments, setbacks, and sheer excitement of space exploration over the past five decades.

May 28, 2011 – October 10, 2011

Air and Space Museum

American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music

Experience the true flavor, or "sabor," of Latin music in the United States and the influence Latin music genres have had on American popular music.

July 11, 2011 – October 9, 2011

Ripley Center

Little Pictures, Big Lives: Snapshots from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art

See snapshots of celebrated and famous artists that offer new insights into their intimate lives.

July 1, 2011 – October 3, 2011

Archives of American Art

Artists at Work

See paintings, drawings, prints, quilts, jewelry, photographs, sculpture, ceramics, and more that reveal the talents and interests of members of the Smithsonian community.

June 23, 2011 – October 2, 2011

Ripley Center

Stamps of Approval

See eight objects featured in the U.S. Postal Service's Pioneers of American Industrial Design series of Forever stamps.

August 12, 2011 – September 25, 2011

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

2010 Nature's Best Photography: Windland Smith Rice International Awards

On view are winners in various categories from the 2010 Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards.

April 16, 2011 – September 25, 2011

Natural History Museum

Glimpse of the Past: A Neighborhood Evolves

Experience the sights, scenes, and beautiful buildings that make up the ever-changing Penn Quarter neighborhood in downtown Washington, D.C.

March 5, 2010 – September 25, 2011

Portrait Gallery

September 11: Remembrance and Reflection

The museum offers a close-up view of more than 50 objects from the three sites: New York City; the Pentagon; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

September 3, 2011 – September 11, 2011

American History Museum

Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows

Some 54 works by internationally renowned glass artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit) illustrate his evolution as an artist over the past two decades.

March 19, 2011 – September 5, 2011

American Indian Museum New York

Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn

This exhibition on innovative book design highlights movable, pop-up, folding, and multiple-construction books from the year 1570 to the present day.

June 14, 2010 – September 5, 2011

American History Museum

Capital Portraits: Treasures from Washington Private Collections, 1730-2010

This exhibition presents portraits-- many on view for the first time -- that reside in private Washington, D.C., collections.

April 8, 2011 – September 5, 2011

Portrait Gallery

To Make a World: George Ault and 1940s America

The exhibition features approximately 50 paintings, drawings, and photographs by Ault and his contemporaries, including the well-known artists Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, as well as recently rediscovered painters Edward Biberman and Dede Plummer.

March 11, 2011 – September 5, 2011

American Art Museum