Exhibitions

Newsroom of the Smithsonian

View news releases below or see all of our publicly released upcoming exhibitions.

Two women with bags of food — Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Stephen Shames

Food for the People Exhibit: Free Food Program

The Black Panther Party operated a Breakfast for Children Program and Free Food Program in cities across the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including in Washington, DC. Addressing rampant food insecurity in these communities, the Panther programs also helped ex

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Group of people marching — Protesters march down Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE during the 2017 Grocery Walk to demand greater investment in food access programs and healthy food retail options. To highlight the lack of grocery options in Wards 7 and 8, over 500 people marched the two-mile journey between Historic Anacostia and Ward 8’s only grocery store. **Credit:** Brian Oh/Courtesy of DC Greens

Anacostia Community Museum Reopens Aug. 6

In-gallery Exhibition “Food for the People: Eating & Activism in Greater Washington” Is Featured

08.04.2021

Anacostia Community Museum Exhibitions

Boycott in field — Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University

Food for the People Exhibit: United Farm Workers

In 1965, Filipino, Chicano, Black, and white farmworkers in California joined together to form the United Farm Workers (UFW). The new union organized to demand better working conditions and a minimum wage.

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Man stands amid fruit and vegetable baskets — DC Public Library, Star Collection © Washington Post

Food for the People Exhibit: George Echols

Through the 1960s, many Washingtonians purchased their fruits, vegetables, and eggs directly from local vendors like George Echols (pictured here) who sold produce 12 months a year for nearly 60 years at the Farmers’ Union Terminal Market.

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Man repairing road in front of supermarket — DC Public Library, Star Collection © Washington Post

Food for the People Exhibit: Giant

Giant Food supermarkets, the first of which opened in 1936, almost tripled in number in the Washington, DC region during the 1950s.

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Group photo in Bens Chili Bowl — Photograph by Carol Highsmith, Courtesy of Library of Congress

Food for the People Exhibit: Ben’s Chili Bowl

Ben’s Chili Bowl has served Washington, DC’s unique “half-smoke”—a pork and beef sausage—topped with their spicy homemade chili sauce for more than 60 years.

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Architectural detail of Hirshhorn Museum building

Hirshhorn To Wrap Its Building With New Site-Specific Public Artwork by Nicolas Party

Artist’s Largest Work to Date, “Draw the Curtain,” Will Debut on the National Mall Sept. 18 While Building’s Envelope Undergoes Repairs

07.22.2021

Hirshhorn Museum Exhibitions

Sculpture of man sitting on a camel — Inland Niger Delta artist; Djenné, Mopti Region, Mali; **Equestrian Figure**; 13th-15th century C.E.; Ceramic; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, museum purchase, 86-12-2; Photograph by Franko Khoury.

National Museum of African Art To Reopen July 16

New Exhibition “Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time” Now Extended to February 2022

07.09.2021

African Art Museum Exhibitions

Baseball player swinging a baseball bat at a game — Roberto Clemente, Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, around 1967. *Courtesy of The Clemente Museum*

“¡Pleibol!” Slides Into Smithsonian Summer 2021

Exhibition Explores Latina/o Impact Through Baseball Artifacts, Stories and Photos

06.29.2021

American History Museum Exhibitions

Hokusai’s Breathtaking and Rarely Seen Wave Painting Will Go on View When the Freer Gallery of Art Reopens July 16

06.29.2021

Asian Art Museum Exhibitions

Gold ornament on a stand — The “Echenique Disc,” a pre-Inka gold ornament recognized as the symbol of the city of Cusco. Photo: National Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of the American Indian and the Government of the Republic of Peru Sign a Memorandum of Understanding To Return the “Echenique Disc” to Peru

Indigenous Populations Centered Around the Sacred Valley of Cusco Support the Return

06.15.2021

American Indian Museum Exhibitions

Smithsonian “FUTURES” To Unveil Five New Commissions by Leading Contemporary Artists

Visitors Can See Alternate Future Worlds as Imagined by Beatriz Cortez, Nettrice Gaskins, Soo Sunny Park, Devan Shimoyama, and Tamiko Thiel and /p in Their Smithsonian Debuts

06.15.2021

Arts and Industries Exhibitions

Hallway leading into a museum exhibit — Picturing Women Inventors is presented in both English and Spanish. © Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center Spotlights Women Inventors in New Bilingual Display and Poster Show

Exhibition Reflects the Central Tenet of the Lemelson Center: Everyone Is Inventive

05.25.2021

American History Museum Exhibitions

Painting resembling identification card — “Resident Alien” by Hung Liu, oil on canvas, 1988. Collection of the San Jose Museum of Art; gift of the Lipman Family Foundation. Copyright Hung Liu.

National Portrait Gallery Presents “Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands”

Chinese-born American Artist’s First Retrospective of Portraiture To Be on View Aug. 27– May 30, 2022

05.25.2021

Portrait Gallery Exhibitions

National Museum of American History Reopens to the Public May 21

New Artifacts On View Include Bob Ross Objects and “Crazy Rich Asians” Gown Spotlight on Women’s History Exhibitions: “Girlhood (It’s Complicated)” and “Picturing Women Inventors”

05.21.2021

American History Museum Exhibitions