Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field

Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field features photo essays by Native photojournalists Donovan Quintero, Tailyr Irvine, and Russel Albert Daniels

November 3, 2022 – March 12, 2023

American Indian Museum New York

The Utopia Project

This interactive gallery is a space to learn the art of activism and to unlock the creativity in each of us to transform our world.

November 1, 2022 – March 1, 2023

Anacostia Community Museum

Teen Portrait Competition, 2022

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is proud to present the winners and finalists of the 2022 Teen Portrait Competition!

July 29, 2022 – February 26, 2023

Portrait Gallery

The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today

Every three years, artists living and working in the United States are invited to submit one of their recent portraits to a panel of experts chosen by the museum.

April 30, 2022 – February 26, 2023

Portrait Gallery

Face Values

Face Values is an immersive installation that explores the pervasive but often hidden role of facial-detection technology in contemporary society.

September 20, 2019 – February 13, 2023

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World

Focusing on Native cosmology and organized around one solar year, this exhibition explores the annual ceremonies of Native peoples as a window on their ancestral teachings.

September 21, 2004 – February 12, 2023

American Indian Museum DC

Smithson Crypt

The final resting place of the Institution's benefactor, James Smithson (1765-1829), is a small chapel-like room located at the north entrance to the Castle.

March 6, 1905 – January 31, 2023

Smithsonian Castle

This exhibition looks at the history of the Smithsonian, focusing on its research; museums; and public programs in art, culture, history, and science, and the role of the American public in the Smithsonian's museums and research. The Smithsonian is a partnership between its specialist staff and the American people.

March 20, 2015 – January 31, 2023

Smithsonian Castle

Views from the Tall Tower

See how the Washington skyline, as seen from the north tower of the Castle, has changed since 1863.

August 1, 2012 – January 31, 2023

Smithsonian Castle

The Earliest Known Photograph of the Castle

The earliest known photograph of the Castle, taken in 1850 during the building's contruction, is on view.

August 10, 2015 – January 31, 2023

Smithsonian Castle

Well-Dressed Walls: Spanning Three Centuries of Wallpaper from the Cooper Hewitt Collection

In this small display, reproductions of wallpaper dating from the 1770s to the 1950s from the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum are installed in pairs to reflect the practice of designing wallpapers to be used together.

March 23, 2016 – January 31, 2023

Smithsonian Castle

Smithsonian Stamped!

In this small display, learn about the origins of the commemorative stamp and view two Smithsonian commemorative stamps celebrating our 100^th and 150^th anniversaries.

December 16, 2021 – January 31, 2023

Smithsonian Castle

Underdogs and Antiheroes: Japanese Prints from the Moskowitz Collection

Expect the unexpected. The exhibition focuses on the captivating stories and urban legends of individuals living on the fringes of society in early modern Japan.

March 19, 2022 – January 29, 2023

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight

Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight features works from internationally acclaimed artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit American, 1963), and tells the story of Raven, the creator of the world and giver of the stars, moon, and sun.

January 28, 2022 – January 29, 2023

American Indian Museum DC

I Dream a World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women: Part I

This exhibition features more than 25 photographs by Brian Lanker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer.

July 8, 2022 – January 29, 2023

Portrait Gallery

Mr. Pergolesi's Curious Things: Ornament in 18th-Century Britain

Brilliantly hued watercolors from Cooper Hewitt’s collection highlight Michel Angel Pergolesi’s skill in transforming ancient relics into lighthearted decorative motifs.

October 1, 2022 – January 29, 2023

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

More Doctors Smoke Camels: A Close Reading of Historical Advertising

Contemporary audiences will learn how advertisers from the 1920s to the 1960s worked to promote cigarettes in the face of the health problems they caused.

April 5, 2019 – January 29, 2023

American History Museum

Living in Two Times: Photography by Bahman Jalali and Rana Javadi

Noted for their sharp documentary images and haunting photomontage works, the artists are among the most influential figures in the development of late twentieth-century photography in Iran.

August 6, 2022 – January 8, 2023

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Girlhood (It's Complicated)

Through its rich collections and new acquisitions, the museum explores how girls have been on the front lines of social and cultural change.

October 9, 2020 – January 2, 2023

American History Museum

¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues: En los barrios y las grandes ligas

This exhibit features the historic role baseball has played as a social and cultural force within Latino communities across the nation.

July 2, 2021 – January 2, 2023

American History Museum

I Am... Contemporary Women Artists of Africa

Taking its name from a 1970’s feminist anthem, I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa draws upon a selection of artworks by women artists from the museum's permanent collection.

June 20, 2019 – December 31, 2022

African Art Museum

Building America's National Collection: 175 Years of Collecting

See selected objects representing all of the museums that offer a tantalizing sample of the breadth and depth of the Smithsonian's vast collections.

May 8, 2005 – December 14, 2022

Smithsonian Castle

Genome: Unlocking Life's Code

With engaging interactives, 3D models, custom animation and videos of real-life stories, this exhibition examines the benefits and the challenges that genomics presents to modern society.

October 21, 2021 – November 28, 2022

Natural History Museum

Once Upon a Roof: Vanished Korean Architecture

One special type of ornamented roof tile is the focus of this exhibition.Called chimi in Korea, these impressive features crowned both ends of the main roof ridge of prominent buildings.

May 21, 2022 – October 30, 2022

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Recent Acquisitions: Gifts from the Corcoran Gallery of Art

This exhibition presents more than 25 gifted works, including portraits of cultural figures Louis Armstrong, Katharine Graham, and Frida Kahlo; presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor; and the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Joseph Henry.

October 9, 2020 – October 23, 2022

Portrait Gallery