Tag Archives: american art museum

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Featured Photo

George H.W. Mondmann

Dana Carvey impersonations aside, this is an excellent forced perspective photo by Robert. Perfectly angling the abstract George H.W. Bush statue, located in the American Art Museum, to make it appear that it is reaching out to the man sitting in the gallery. The black and white coloring of the photo helps to simplify the composition and confine the viewer’s attention on the statue and seated person. Well sighted and well executed; very prudent. A thousand points of light, in fact.

Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed
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Video Game Art Voting Extended!

Photo courtesy of
‘DC Meetups – 09-03-22 – Your Move’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

In response to public demand, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has extended the deadline for public voting for the video games to be featured in its upcoming exhibition, “The Art of Video Games.” The voting period, originally scheduled to end April 7, now will close at midnight, Sunday, April 17.

The website offers participants a chance to vote for 80 games from a pool of 240 proposed choices in various categories, divided by era, game type and platform. More than three million votes have been cast since the voting site launched Feb. 14. A valid e-mail address is required to vote.

The winning games will be announced publicly Thursday, May 5. Anyone who registered to vote will receive advance notification of the winning games, as well as monthly updates and special behind-the-scenes offers leading up to the exhibition opening in Washington, D.C. and throughout the run of the exhibition.

“The Art of Video Games” is the first to explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. Chris Melissinos, founder of Past Pixels and collector of video games and gaming systems, is the curator of the exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at the museum from March 16, 2012 through Sept. 30, 2012; it then will travel to multiple venues in the United States.

We Love Arts
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March 2011: SAAM and NMAI

courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

As spring unfolds in DC and the cherry blossoms begin to bloom, the crowds will come to the Tidal Basin area. So if you’re looking for something else to do in town to avoid the tourista hordes, check out some of the great programs at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian.

This month at SAAM:

Women Building History: Public Art at the 1893 Columbian Exposition
March 3, 7 p.m.
Wanda Corn describes the neoclassical Woman’s Building at the 1893 Exposition in Chicago—which celebrated modern woman’s progress in education, the arts, and science at the end of the nineteenth century—and how the building’s content was used to promote the expansion of opportunities for women. A book signing follows.

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Downtown, Entertainment, Fun & Games, Penn Quarter, Special Events, The Features, The Mall, We Love Arts
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October’s Best at SAAM & NMAI

Derek A. Bencomo, Hana Valley, First View from the Peaks and Valleys Series, 1997, milowood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur and Charles Bresler in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995--2003); photo courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

Some great stuff’s going on this month at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum (SAAM) and the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). While there’s a ton of events and exhibits happening at both locations, I’ve highlighted some of the more interesting things you may want to check out. Got a free afternoon or in need of some weekend inspiration this month? Well, there’s something here for everyone.

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Entertainment, Special Events, We Love Arts
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Norman Rockwell & the Movies

---And Daniel Boone Comes to Life on the Underwood Portable

Norman Rockwell, "---And Daniel Boone Comes to Life on the Underwood Portable"; 1923, oil on canvas; Collection of Steven Spielberg; courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum

Last week, the latest special exhibit opened up at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg” showcases 57 major Rockwell paintings and drawings from the private collections of two of Hollywood’s most influential modern moviemakers. The exhibition runs through January 2, 2011.

The exhibition – only being shown here in DC – is the first to plumb the depths of the connections between Rockwell’s images of American life and the movies. Between Rockwell’s work and the movies of Lucas and Spielberg, the themes of patriotism, small-town values, children growing up, unlikely heroes, imaginations, and life’s ironies are portrayed between canvas and film. “Ultimately, looking at Rockwell in terms of the movies opens a whole new way of understanding his work for the public,” said senior curator and exhibition organizer Virginia Mecklenburg, “but also for scholars interested in American popular and visual culture in the middle of the 20th century.”

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