Smithsonian Museums - A Washington, DC Institution!

The Anacostia Community Museum Arts and Industries Building Freer Gallery of Art Museum and Garden Air and Space Museum Museum of African Art Museum of American History Museum of Natural History Museum of the American Indian National Portrait Gallery National Postal Museum National Zoological Park Art Museum and Renwick Gallery Smithsonian Institution Building

The Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex and research organization, is composed of 18 museums and art galleries, along with the National Zoo, in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and New York City. The Smithsonian's 19th museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, tells the African American story and the role it has played in America's history. Visit the Smithsonian Museums and experience the treasured icons of our past, the vibrant art of the present, and the scientific promise of the future.

The Anacostia Community Museum.

The Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Community Museum, a museum of African American history and culture, explores American history, society, and creative expression from an African American perspective. The Museum encourages the collection, protection, and preservation of materials that reflect the history and traditions of families, organizations, individuals, and communities.

Arts and Industries Building.

The Arts and Industries Building in Washington D.C. has a special role among Smithsonian buildings as the original home of the National Museum. Designed in a high Victorian style, the building opened in 1881 in time for the inaugural ball of President James A. Garfield.

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M Sackler Gallery.

Located in Washington, DC the Freer Gallery of Art and The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the national museum of Asian art for the United States, featuring an exquisite collection of Asian Ancient Egyptian, and Islamic art, as well as a specialized collection of American art and biblical manuscripts.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is the Smithsonian's museum of international modern and contemporary art in Washington, DC. The Museum is a leading voice for contemporary art and culture, and provides a national platform for the art and artists of our time. Explore the transformative power of modern and contemporary art through meaningful, personal experiences with artists, exciting exhibitions, education and public programs, conservation, and research.

National Air and Space Museum.

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum maintains the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world. It is also a vital center for research into the history, science, and technology of aviation and space flight, as well as planetary science and terrestrial geology and geophysics. The Museum's National Mall building in Washington, DC displays hundreds of artifacts, including the Wright 1903 Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, and the Apollo 11 command module. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia displays many artifacts including the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, and Space Shuttle Enterprise.

National Museum of African Art.

The National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC embraces the diverse artistic expressions found throughout Africa, from ancient to contemporary times. The Museum's collection ranges from ceramics, textiles, furniture and tools to masks, figures, and musical instruments. The arts of painting, printmaking, sculpture, and other media are represented by living artists whose works highlight individual creativity, address global and local art trends, and innovatively transform artistic traditions into modern idiom. African art embodies one of humanity's greatest achievements, which is fusing visual imagery with spiritual beliefs and social purpose.

National Museum of American History & Behring Center.

From President Lincoln's top hat to Dorothy's ruby red slippers, the nation's history, science, technology, and culture come alive at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. See the enormous Star-Spangled Banner that inspired the national anthem almost 200 years ago. Stop at the Woolworth counter from segregation-era Greensboro, North Carolina, where four courageous African American students sat down and asked to be served in 1960. Visit The American Presidency exhibition and see the desk on which Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The Museum presents three million objects that preserve the memories and experiences of the American people. The collections and exhibits illustrate the American Dream of freedom, democracy, opportunity, and the belief in progress that shaped the United States.

National Museum of Natural History.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is the world's preeminent museum and research complex. The Museum inspires curiosity, discovery, and learning about the natural world through its unparalleled research, collections, exhibitions, and outreach programs. Opened in 1910, the green-domed museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC presents the history and cultures of Africa, our earliest mammalian ancestors and primate diversity around the world, and ancient life forms, including dinosaurs, and explores the beauty of rare gemstones such as uniquely colored diamonds. The Museum's exhibitions educate, enlighten, and entertain millions of visitors
each year.

National Museum of the American Indian.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is dedicated to the preservation, exhibition, and study of the living cultures and history of the native peoples of the Americas. The collection of thousands of masterworks includes: intricate wood and stone carvings and masks from the Northwest Coast; elegantly painted hides, clothing, and feather bonnets from the Plains; pottery and basketry from the southwestern U.S.; 18th-century materials from the Great Lakes; and early Navajo weavings. Works on paper and canvas include Plains ledger drawings and contemporary prints and paintings. The museum's collections also include objects from the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Mayans, Andean cultures, and Amazonia. NMAI's collections are of cultural, historical, aesthetic, and spiritual significance.

National Portrait Gallery.

The National Portrait Gallery presents generations of remarkable Americans and individuals who have influenced both the United States and its culture. Through visual and performing arts, leaders such as George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr., artists such as Mary Cassatt and George Gershwin, activists such as Sequoyah and Rosa Parks, and pop icons such as Babe Ruth and Marilyn Monroe, are celebrated. As America's only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House, the "America's Presidents" exhibition lies at the heart of the Portrait Gallery's mission to tell the country's history through the individuals who have shaped it. The National Portrait Gallery shares one of Washington's oldest public buildings, a National Historic Landmark and an amazing example of Greek-Revival architecture.

National Postal Museum.

Located in the historic Post Office building in Washington, DC, the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum presents a collection of United States' postal history, philately, and postal operations. It contains prestigious U.S. and international postal issues and specialized collections, archival postal documents, and three-dimensional objects that trace the evolution of the postal services. The Museum houses a 6,000-square-foot research library, a stamp store, and a museum shop.

National Zoological Park.

The Smithsonian's National Zoological Park is home to 2,000 animals of 400 different species in a 163-acre park set amid Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC. The Zoo's best known residents are giant pandas, Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, and their cub, Tai Shan. One of Washington's most popular tourist destinations, the Zoo welcomes millions of visitors free of charge. Marvel at wonderful animals, learn about wildlife, and enjoy the beautiful, peaceful gardens. The 3,200-acre rural campus in Front Royal, Virginia, at the edge of Shenandoah National Park, breeds and studies endangered species.

Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, DC is America's first federal art collection, dedicated to the enjoyment and understanding of American art. The museum's paintings, sculptures, graphics, folk art, crafts, and photography, from the 18th century to the present, celebrate the extraordinary creativity of artists whose works are windows on the American experience.

Smithsonian Institution Building.

Known as the Castle, the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, DC houses the Institution's administrative offices and Smithsonian Information Center. Highlights include an 18-minute video orientation, two interactive touch-screen stations with information on the Smithsonian in six languages, and a scale model of the federal city.