Sidedoor: Art & Design

MISS CHELOVE uses art to transform everyday public spaces into deeply personal statements and inspires some to ask: what is the role of the public artist?

Edmonia Lewis' 3,000-pound masterwork, The Death of Cleopatra, mysteriously disappeared and was found in an unlikely place 100 years later.

Follow the money to see behind-the-scenes in the process of minting twenty new quarters featuring American women from history.

Listen to some of Japanese theater’s most popular tales of scorned lovers seeking vengeance from beyond the grave.

Explore the history of portraiture in America and a poisonous mystery.

We think of paintings as art, but they can also help us understand today's changing climate.

This Harlem Renaissance sculptor has been called one of the most influential artists of the 21st century.

Learn how one groundbreaking emoji is changing digital representation and the future of museum collections.

Liebes spun luxury fabrics so bold and colorful that their style could only be described as the "Liebes Look."

In 19th-century Japan, two sumo wrestlers faced down dozens of firefighters in an epic brawl. But the story of what really happened isn't so simple.

Hear the origin story of the Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest passed down since time immemorial.

Learn from Chiura Obata about the power of art in tumultuous times.

Artist Abigail DeVille has reimagined the Statue of Liberty’s torch to shine a light on historical contradictions of American freedom.

His paintings, sketches, and prints papered the second half of the 20th century, highlighting American icons in his colorful expressionist style.

The first sculptor of African American and Native American descent to achieve international fame, Edmonia Lewis debuted on a U.S. stamp in 2022.

National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet discusses four First Ladies and their portraits.

Artist David Levinthal uses toys to recreate iconic moments, encouraging his audience to question America’s collective memory.

Glittering treasures, gleaming coins, and eye-catching jewelry…gold can be all of these things, but in some parts of the world it's also an enduring link to the past.

Marin is our guide to the wildly creative and ingenious world of rasquachismo.

Sidedoor takes a look at America's early HIV/AIDS crisis through the eyes of an artist whose life and work were changed by it forever. 

Journey to Amy Sherald's studio to hear exactly how she captured the spirit of Michelle Obama in paint on canvas.

Examining Ai Weiwei’s controversial career, and how he uses art to rally against political and social injustice.

Learn tales of small things that snowballed and had outsized impacts on history, art, and culture.

In this episode of Sidedoor, listen to stories of artists whose work has helped reveal the human side of war. 

A grab bag of stories from the Smithsonian Sidedoor team.

A grab bag of stories from the Smithsonian Sidedoor team.

A grab bag of stories from the Smithsonian Sidedoor team.