Reflect. Engage. Imagine.

Our Shared Future: 250
October 15 at the National Museum of Natural History

An Evening with Smithsonian Secretary Emeritus Wayne Clough
September 15 to October 15

Join Us for Hispanic Heritage Month
Celebrating an American Art Form

Experience Jazz at the Smithsonian
On view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through January 3, 2027

Nick Cave: Mammoth

What’s On

Featured events and exhibitions

With more than two hundred exhibitions to choose from, we've highlighted selections from across our museums and zoo.

Tap or click the ♥ heart on each exhibition that interests you to create a My Visit list that you can email to yourself.

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What's New

My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

American Stories: Artists’ Books from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Added

~~American Stories: Artists’ Books from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives~~ Removed

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American Stories: Artists’ Books from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Works by more than 50 American artists explore identity, community, and history though the medium of the artist’s book.

October 8, 2026 – TBA

American History Museum
My Visit

From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art

Explore twenty-six pieces of Islamic art from the collections of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

September 26, 2026 – January 18, 2027

Asian Art Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial Added

~~Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial~~ Removed

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Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial

Photographs provide an expansive and evocative portrait of America with a focus on the 1970s and early 1980s.

September 18, 2026 – April 18, 2027

American Art Museum
My Visit

Declaration of Independence Diorama

See a freshly conserved diorama depicting the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a new Revolutionary War–era gallery.

July 2, 2026 – Ongoing

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Bernardo de Gálvez by José Nicolás de Escalera

A rare eighteenth-century portrait of Spanish military leader Bernardo de Gálvez (1746–1786) by Cuban painter José Nicolás de Escalera.

July 2, 2026 – Ongoing

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe

Learn how the development of new and more precise tools transformed our understanding of the origin, content, and fate of the universe.

July 1, 2026 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

The Art of Air and Space: Interpretations of Flight

Explore the relationships between art and the transformative power of the experience of flight.

July 1, 2026 – July 1, 2027

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

The Ascent of Rauschenberg: Reinventing the Art of Flight

Gain a richer understanding of Robert Rauschenberg’s innovative techniques, sustained legacy, and unique perspective on all things that fly.

July 1, 2026 – July 1, 2027

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

Textron How Things Fly

Interactives and featured artifacts communicate the idea that the forces of lift, weight, drag, and thrust guide the design and function of everything that flies.

July 1, 2026 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

RTX Living in the Space Age Hall

The RTX Living in the Space Age Hall provides insight into space technologies and infrastructure that are largely invisible to the public but have a profound impact on our daily lives.

July 1, 2026 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

Jay I. Kislak World War II in the Air

World War II in the Air examines how the revolution in warfare that took place during the war redefined the promise and peril of military aviation.

July 1, 2026 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

A Museum in the Making

See a window into the design and collaboration behind the first national art museum in the United States.

June 27, 2026 – August 1, 2027

Asian Art Museum

Opening Soon

My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Light Is a Plastic Medium: The Photography of Carlotta Corpron Added

~~Light Is a Plastic Medium: The Photography of Carlotta Corpron~~ Removed

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Light Is a Plastic Medium: The Photography of Carlotta Corpron

Corpron's investigations into the poetics of light and form and innovative use of technology supported the establishment of photography as fine art.

October 16, 2026 – March 14, 2027

Hirshhorn Museum
My Visit

At Home in Space

At Home in Space takes visitors along a 40+ year journey of learning how humans can live and work in space continuously.

October 30, 2026 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

Frederic Church in Jamaica

See rarely exhibited sketches from Church's 1865 travels, presented within their historical context.

October 30, 2026 – February 15, 2027

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum
My Visit

Sculpture Garden

Nearly sixty sculptures are displayed within a environment featuring almost 30,000 newly planted trees and plants.

October 31, 2026 – Permanent

Hirshhorn Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

New & Now: A Decade Building the National Collection of African Art Added

~~New & Now: A Decade Building the National Collection of African Art~~ Removed

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New & Now: A Decade Building the National Collection of African Art

Explore artworks acquired in the last decade at the National Museum of African Art.

Fall 2026 – TBD

African Art Museum
My Visit

Yoshitomo Nara: Sentinels of Stillness

The exhibition of three monumental artworks emphasizes the interplay between the artist’s life experience and sculpture’s premodern foundation.

October 31, 2026 – November 7, 2027

Hirshhorn Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Materials, Methods, and Meanings: Craft in the Archives of American Art Added

~~Materials, Methods, and Meanings: Craft in the Archives of American Art~~ Removed

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Materials, Methods, and Meanings: Craft in the Archives of American Art

See how makers push beyond tradition across craft disciplines into vehicles for creative inquiry and cultural expression.

November 6, 2026 – April 16, 2027

Archives of American Art
My Visit

On Stage: Portraying the Performing Arts

This exhibit features over twenty objects that highlight musicians, dancers, actors and others whose talents enrich our lives.

November 6, 2026 – July 18, 2027

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Woven and Cast: Chinese Textiles and Japanese Metalwork from the Shirley Z. Johnson Collection Added

~~Woven and Cast: Chinese Textiles and Japanese Metalwork from the Shirley Z. Johnson Collection~~ Removed

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Woven and Cast: Chinese Textiles and Japanese Metalwork from the Shirley Z. Johnson Collection

Woven and Cast brings together artworks across two sets of media, cultures, and time periods: Chinese textiles and contemporary Japanese metalwork.

November 7, 2026 – November 28, 2027

Asian Art Museum
My Visit

Modern Military Aviation

Explore the museum’s unparalleled collection of military aviation artifacts including the North American F-86 Sabre and the Bell UH-1H “Huey.”

November 11, 2026 – Permanent

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

Handwork: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery

See objects from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection that explore the meaning and relevance of craft in American culture.

November 13, 2026 – Ongoing

Renwick Gallery
My Visit

Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting

Photographic Memory marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the National Portrait Gallery's photographs collection.

November 14, 2026 – TBD

Portrait Gallery

Closing Soon

My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Best Laid Plans: Unrealized Projects from the Archives of American Art Added

~~Best Laid Plans: Unrealized Projects from the Archives of American Art~~ Removed

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Best Laid Plans: Unrealized Projects from the Archives of American Art

See unrealized projects, from artworks to exhibitions, preserved in the Archives of American Art.

April 4, 2026 – October 18, 2026

Archives of American Art
My Visit

Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960

A major survey of artwork made during a transformative period characterized by new currents in science and philosophy, and ever-increasing mechanization.

March 22, 2024 – November 1, 2026

Hirshhorn Museum
My Visit

Shahzia Sikander: The Last Post

Through precisely inked and animated scenes, this video artwork critically considers the legacy of British colonialism in Asia.

July 3, 2025 – November 8, 2026

American Art Museum
My Visit

Saodat Ismailova: Melted into the Sun

The first major solo museum presentation in the United States by film and installation artist Saodat Ismailova.

June 13, 2026 – November 29, 2026

Asian Art Museum
My Visit

Water's Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe

Lowe’s elegant sculptures evoke the rivers, streams, and waterfalls of the Wisconsin woodlands where he was raised and the canoes used to traverse them.

November 25, 2025 – January 1, 2027

American Indian Museum DC
My Visit

Nick Cave: Mammoth

Nick Cave envisions a world animated by the power of the past and the transformative possibilities of the imagination.

February 13, 2026 – January 3, 2027

American Art Museum
My Visit

Adam Pendleton: Love, Queen

Adam Pendleton: Love, Queen is landmark exhibition of new and recent paintings as well as a single-channel video work.

April 4, 2025 – January 3, 2027

Hirshhorn Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell (A Sequel) Added

~~Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell (A Sequel)~~ Removed

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Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell (A Sequel)

A selection of 20 vintage photographs that explore timeless images of film royalty from the 1930s and 1940s.

February 13, 2026 – January 10, 2027

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art

Explore twenty-six pieces of Islamic art from the collections of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

September 26, 2026 – January 18, 2027

Asian Art Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial Added

~~Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial~~ Removed

View My Visit

Much Here is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial

Photographs provide an expansive and evocative portrait of America with a focus on the 1970s and early 1980s.

September 18, 2026 – April 18, 2027

American Art Museum
My Visit

The Spirit of Invention: Patent Office and Patentees

This exhibition sketches the early history of the Patent Office—now the home of the National Portrait Gallery.

June 26, 2026 – June 6, 2027

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

The Art of Air and Space: Interpretations of Flight

Explore the relationships between art and the transformative power of the experience of flight.

July 1, 2026 – July 1, 2027

Air and Space Museum

Don't Miss

My Visit

NASA’s Earth Information Center @ NMNH

Explore high-resolution data visualizations, interactive experiences, and videos that share how scientists collect and interpret data.

October 8, 2024 – 2028

Natural History Museum
My Visit

The Wright Brothers & the Invention of the Aerial Age

Explore who Wilbur and Orville Wright were, what they achieved and how they did it, and how the world reacted.

October 14, 2022 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

Destination Moon

The gallery shows how an extraordinary combination of things made it possible for humans to walk on the Moon—and how we are going back.

October 14, 2022 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room

The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room includes more than two hundred bronzes, paintings, silk hangings, and carpets that were created in Tibet, China, and Mongolia between the thirteenth and early twentieth centuries.

March 5, 2022 – Ongoing

Asian Art Museum
My Visit

Laurie Anderson: Four Talks

Laurie Anderson has painted directly on the walls of the Hirshhorn in a stream-of-consciousness manner without preparatory sketches.

September 24, 2021 – Ongoing

Hirshhorn Museum
My Visit

Americans

American Indians represent less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, yet names and images of Indians are everywhere. Americans invites visitors to ask why.

January 18, 2018 – Indefinitely

American Indian Museum DC
My Visit

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts

Visionary offers broad thematic connections between works from across the spectrum of times, places, and media represented in the museum’s holdings.

November 4, 2017 – Ongoing

African Art Museum
My Visit

America's Presidents

The nation’s only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House tells the American story through the individuals who have shaped it.

September 22, 2017 – Permanent

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Greensboro Lunch Counter

The sit-in of four African American college students at this Woolworth counter helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge inequality throughout the South.

June 28, 2017 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith

Presents national treasures that represent American democracy—based on the bold American experiment to create a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

June 28, 2017 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Slavery and Freedom

This exhibition explores the complex story of slavery and freedom, a story standing at the core of our national experience.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Musical Crossroads

This exhibition tells the story of African American music from the arrival of the first Africans to today’s hip-hop.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

American Enterprise

Learn how business and innovation helped the United States develop from a small dependent agricultural nation to one of the world's largest economies.

July 1, 2015 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Nation to Nation: Treaties between the United States and American Indian Nations Added

~~Nation to Nation: Treaties between the United States and American Indian Nations~~ Removed

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Nation to Nation: Treaties between the United States and American Indian Nations

Learn about the treaties that lie at the heart of the relationship between Indian nations and the United States.

September 21, 2014 – January 17, 2028

American Indian Museum DC
My Visit

Experience America

Through New Deal programs, the federal government paid artists to paint and sculpt and urged them to look to the nation’s land and people for subjects.

August 14, 2014 – Ongoing

American Art Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem Added

~~The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem~~ Removed

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The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem

The sight of those “broad stripes and bright stars” inspired Francis Scott Key to write a song that eventually became the United States national anthem.

November 21, 2008 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Cold War Aviation

The role of aircraft in the post-World War II competition between superpowers is explored.

December 15, 2003 – Permanent

Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
My Visit

Binding the Nation

This gallery provides an overview of mail service in America from colonial times through the 19th century.

July 30, 1993 – Permanent

Postal Museum

Kids' Favorites

My Visit

Declaration of Independence Diorama

See a freshly conserved diorama depicting the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a new Revolutionary War–era gallery.

July 2, 2026 – Ongoing

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Textron How Things Fly

Interactives and featured artifacts communicate the idea that the forces of lift, weight, drag, and thrust guide the design and function of everything that flies.

July 1, 2026 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

Futures in Space

Explore the potential near- and long–term futures that may emerge with advances in space exploration technology and enterprise.

July 28, 2025 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum
My Visit

Really BIG Money

Artifacts and activities help young visitors understand that money can be a powerful and memorable way to learn about the world.

April 8, 2022 – Indefinitely

American History Museum
My Visit

The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils—Deep Time

Learn how life on Earth evolved and see highlights from the museum's unrivaled collection of 46 million fossils.

June 8, 2019 – Permanent

Natural History Museum
My Visit

Explore! with the National Portrait Gallery

Explore! is a space where kids (ages 18 months to 8 years old accompanied by an adult) can experiment with portraiture hands-on. Hours are subject to change.

January 28, 2017 – Indefinitely

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Sports: Leveling the Playing Field

Learn how African Americans have contributed to sports in American and how sports have helped people respond to injustice.

September 24, 2016 – Indefinitely

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Wegmans Wonderplace

Wegmans Wonderplace welcomes curious kids ages 0–6 and their grownups. Please also note that children may not visit Wegmans Wonderplace without an adult. Please check our events calendar for the latest hours.

December 9, 2015 – Indefinitely

American History Museum
My Visit

Patrick F. Taylor Foundation Object Project

In Object Project, visitors consider the impact of innovative things on everyday life in the past.

July 1, 2015 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Spark!Lab

Open Wednesday–Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hands-on activities help kids and families learn about the history and process of invention. Hours are subject to change.

July 1, 2015 – Indefinitely

American History Museum
My Visit

American Trail

American Trail is where Zoo visitors can learn about animals native to the U.S. and Canada, many of which have come back from the brink of extinction and are thriving thanks to conservation efforts.

September 1, 2012 – Permanent

National Zoo
My Visit

As We Grow: Traditions, Toys, Games

The toys, games, and clothing displayed offer children ways of learning traditions of families and people and represent many tribes and time periods.

August 22, 2012 – Permanent

American Indian Museum DC
My Visit

Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt

Learn about Egyptian burial ritual and cosmology and what they reveal about life in ancient Egypt.

November 17, 2011 – Permanent

Natural History Museum
My Visit

Sant Ocean Hall

Dive in with Phoenix—a model of an actual North Atlantic right whale—and discover how the ocean is a global system essential to all life.

September 27, 2008 – Permanent

Natural History Museum
My Visit

Human Spaceflight

Learn how the United States, Soviet Union/Russia, and other nations have made human spaceflight a reality.

November 1, 2004 – Permanent

Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
My Visit

Kids' Farm

At the Kids’ Farm, children of all ages have an opportunity to meet and greet cows, alpacas, hogs, donkeys, goats, chickens, and fish.

June 12, 2004 – Permanent

National Zoo
My Visit

America on the Move

This exhibition examines how transportation—from 1876 to 1999—has shaped our American identity.

November 22, 2003 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals

Travel to four continents to see some 274 mammals in lifelike poses in their natural habitat.

November 15, 2003 – Permanent

Natural History Museum
My Visit

Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals

This hall features 2,500 minerals and gems, including the Hope Diamond, Hooker Emerald Brooch, and a sample from the Bennu asteroid.

September 20, 1997 – Permanent

Natural History Museum
My Visit

Moving the Mail

Faced with the challenge of moving the mail quickly, the postal service looked to trains, automobiles, airplanes, and buses to deliver the mail.

July 30, 1993 – Permanent

Postal Museum
My Visit

The Dolls' House

This dollhouse and its 800 miniature furnishings represent a romantic view of the life of a large and affluent American family in the early 1900s.

January 1964 – Indefinitely

American History Museum

See all exhibitions

Smithsonian in Your Community

The Smithsonian comes to you! View the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service tour schedule to find exhibitions in your community. Or visit one of our 200+ Affiliates in nearly every state.

View traveling exhibition schedule

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