Above: Yayoi Kusama with recent works in Tokyo, 2016. Tomoaki Makino. Courtsey of the artist © Yayoi Kusama.
Last year, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors, invited visitors to engage with art and each other by placing colored dot stickers throughout an all-white room—a practice the artist calls “radical connectivity.”
In that spirit, we invite you to connect with the Smithsonian through our 2017 Annual Report.
The year 2017 was successful for the Smithsonian by any measure. Our curators opened insightful and inspirational exhibitions. Our scientists continued to do groundbreaking research that benefits humankind. Our educators are reaching more people than ever before with compelling programming. The years-long, Smithsonian-wide campaign soared past its goal, setting up success for decades to come.
It's hard not to become discouraged by pervasive "doom-and-gloom" environmental messages these days. And with few proposed solutions on offer, many people are left feeling that nothing they can do will make a difference. On Earth Day in 2017, the Smithsonian took a more hopeful approach — we hosted the inaugural Earth Optimism Summit to focus on what works in conservation and why, and how we can learn from success to do even more.
The Smithsonian welcomes nearly 30 million visitors each year and engages millions more through outreach and compelling digital content. In 2017, we continued to innovate the ways we connect with new audiences to bring world-changing research and thought-provoking exhibitions and educational programs to the places where they are. Here’s how.
The eight-year Smithsonian Campaign raised a total of $1.88 billionthe largest amount ever raised in a campaign by a cultural organization.
A year in the life of the Smithsonian brings untold moments of wonder: a curator unveiling a previously unknown photograph of Harriet Tubman; a zookeeper tending to three newborn gazelle calves; an art museum holding a first-ever Asian night market on the National Mall. Here's a glimpse of what we do, every day, to inspire learning and discovery.
Sign up for Smithsonian email. Hear firsthand how we're tackling our planet's biggest scientific challenges, giving voices to artists of the past, present, and future, and preserving culture and history for future generations.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, the Smithsonian's impact is felt far beyond the National Mall.
You can help our scientists, researchers and curators to provide unforgettable experiences to millions of visitors each year, work to expand our knowledge and solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
For questions or comments about the 2017 annual report please email giving@si.edu
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The Smithsonian is a community of scholars and educators, sustained by the American people and many generous donors. We are the nation’s museums—keepers of the country’s collection; home to experts in science, history and art; and a provider of education programs that serve millions of families each year. In a rapidly changing world, we are evolving to reach more people where they are, with more impact.
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Thanks to the generosity of people like you, the Smithsonian's impact is felt far beyond the National Mall. Federal funding covers about 60% of what we need to maintain the Smithsonian's incredible exhibitions, groundbreaking research and world-class educational programming. The rest comes from curious, passionate people like you who want to help our scientists, researchers and curators to provide unforgettable experiences to millions of visitors each year and work to expand our knowledge and solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
The year 2017 was successful for the Smithsonian by any measure. Our curators opened insightful and inspirational exhibitions. Our scientists continued to do groundbreaking research that benefits humankind. Our educators are reaching more people than ever before with compelling programming. The years-long, Smithsonian-wide campaign soared past its goal, setting up success for decades to come.
This annual report is a terrific opportunity to look back and recognize all of these impressive achievements and many more brought to life by the Smithsonian’s dedicated and talented staff and volunteers.
But while it is important to reflect on the past year, we must also redirect our eyes from the rearview mirror to the road that lies before us.
This is especially true now, since 2017 saw the unveiling of our bold new strategic plan that will guide us through the year 2022.
Whenever I have a chance to visit our museums on the National Mall or beyond, I’m always struck by our visitors’ incredible diversity: geographic, cultural and generational. However, not everyone can venture to our museums, nor can our traveling exhibitions reach everyone where they live.
That is why, in an effort to expand our reach and impact, an important goal of the strategic plan is to reach one billion people a year with a “digital-first” approach. Although technology will never take the place of the traditional museum-going experience, it can supplement and add context to the experience, allowing people to do a deeper dive into our exhibitions, collections and programs. And we can exponentially improve our access by making our expertise and artifacts available on every mobile device.
We have to do so, given the way today’s audiences, irrespective of generation, consume their education and entertainment. If we are to engage more people locally, nationally and globally, we must also foster a more inclusive culture by reaching out to traditionally underserved audiences and by telling an American story truly reflective of who we are as a nation.
One of the ways we have already expanded our relevance with audiences and engaged them more deeply is with our stunning new addition to the Smithsonian family, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Since the day it opened, the museum has represented the best of the Smithsonian and embodied our commitment to revealing new chapters in the American narrative. Not only does it tell poignant stories of tragedy and triumph, it has inspired a larger discussion about social inequities, the role of societal diversity, and the path forward if we hope to heal our racial divisions.
Above: A cylindrical fountain rains into the center of the Contemplation Court, in honor of John Hope Franklin, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum tells stories of tragedy and triumph.
I believe that respectful dialogue with people who have opposing viewpoints leads to solutions, which is why the strategic plan lays out a goal to be known as one of the leading conveners of conversations on global and national issues. The Smithsonian’s breadth and depth of expertise and well-earned trust give us a unique ability to bring together leaders from all endeavors to search for solutions to complex problems.
One such platform is our website called Smithsonian Second Opinion. Thus far, it has fostered dialogue about two topics close to my heart, immigration and earth optimism. Another recent event, December’s Long Conversation, welcomed a procession of leaders in the arts, humanities and sciences to talk about what causes them to be optimistic for the future.
Finally, no discussion of optimism would be complete without including the Earth Optimism Summit, a three-day event centered around Earth Day 2017 that explored solutions to global conservation problems. It featured more than 150 scientists, thought leaders, philanthropists, conservationists and civic leaders from across the political spectrum.
For all the external collaboration that is needed to maximize our institutional potential, we realized that we needed to first look inward. That is why the strategic plan’s first goal is simple, yet challenging, given the size of the institution and the scope of our activities: Be One Smithsonian.
Above: The American Women’s History Initiative brings together curators and educators from across the Smithsonian to amplify women’s voices and deepen understanding of women’s contributions to the nation. The Smithsonian Learning Lab offers a collection of digital images on themes in women’s history.
Two forthcoming projects will be examples of “One Smithsonian” in action: the Smithsonian Latino Center’s Latino Gallery in the National Museum of American History and the American Women’s History Initiative.
The Latino Gallery will serve as the focal point and intellectual hub for Latino scholarship, connecting programs and exhibitions across the Institution’s museums and research centers. It will expand national dialogue about, and the world’s appreciation for, what it means to be an American.
The American Women’s History Initiative will amplify women’s voices, reach diverse audiences and empower people from all walks of life. Curators and educators from across the Institution will work together to create new exhibitions, programs and symposia centered on women’s myriad contributions to the nation. The initiative also will support research, educational and public programs, a collections survey and acquisitions.
Looking around the Smithsonian, I see many opportunities like these to create, collaborate and innovate.
I also see many talented and dedicated people who justify my own optimism about the bright future of this hallowed institution. As we take steps to increase our relevance, reach and impact, I am confident that the Smithsonian is primed to take advantage of our opportunities in the years and decades ahead.
Above: Secretary of the Smithsonian David J. Skorton attends the 2017 Earth Optimism Summit. The three-day event explored solutions to global conservation problems.
Sign up for Smithsonian email. Hear firsthand how we're tackling our planet's biggest scientific challenges, giving voices to artists of the past, present, and future, and preserving culture and history for future generations.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, the Smithsonian's impact is felt far beyond the National Mall.
You can help our scientists, researchers and curators to provide unforgettable experiences to millions of visitors each year, work to expand our knowledge and solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
Steven Monfort Acting Director, National Zoological Park, and John and Adrienne Mars Director, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Above: With international partners in Australia, Smithsonian scientists study coral reproduction in hopes of supporting large-scale restoration efforts for the world’s coral reefs.
It's hard not to become discouraged by pervasive "doom-and-gloom" environmental messages these days. And with few proposed solutions on offer, many people are left feeling that nothing they can do will make a difference. On Earth Day in 2017, the Smithsonian took a more hopeful approach — we hosted the inaugural Earth Optimism Summit to focus on what works in conservation and why, and how we can learn from success to do even more.
One year later, #EarthOptimism has gained momentum as a new mechanism for collecting, curating and sharing best practices and stories of success in conservation with millions of people worldwide. Some examples of the Smithsonian’s conservation successes include:
"...the Smithsonian builds on its trusted reputation and interdisciplinary work in the arts, humanities and science to tackle the world’s biggest challenges."
Live Stream: Watch the live stream.
Building on this Smithsonian-wide momentum, we will continue to convene conversations using our Earth Optimism platform to focus on making positive change. We are growing a global community of conservation practice, and in 2020 we will convene the second global Earth Optimism Summit in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
The Earth Optimism Summit and its social media outreach is an example of how the Smithsonian builds on its trusted reputation and interdisciplinary work in the arts, humanities and sciences to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. We are thrilled that it set in motion a movement of people and organizations across sectors who, based on evidence, are now thinking about what works in conservation.
Above: Nancy Fukuhara Nitta and Kay Nitta, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center Director Lisa Sasaki’s nisei (American-born citizens of Japanese descent) grandparents, stand in front of their tar-paper barracks in Jerome, Ark., circa 1943. After losing the family business in Sacramento, Calif., due to internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, they resettled in Denver, following the war, where they raised their five children.
Secretary David J. Skorton created Second Opinion in 2017 as a digital platform to explore challenges facing our nation and the world. "The Smithsonian can and should take a more prominent role in convening discussions important to people, even when these reveal differences," he said.
In one session, Secretary Skorton asked a range of thinkers about how immigrants contribute to our country, how that might differ today from the past, and what is gained and lost when someone immigrates to America.
Here are the opinions from two Smithsonian directors.
Lisa Sasaki Director, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
What continues to bring many immigrants to the United States is the promise that has been bringing immigrants to the United States since before it was a country itself, which is the idea of a land of opportunity where you can change your circumstances and better your financial, social, economic and cultural well-being in the process.
Above: Lisa Sasaki’s grandmother Nancy Nitta (far left) stands with her sister-in-law, two sisters and nephew in front of their tar-paper barracks in Jerome, Ark., c. 1943. Originally incarcerated at the Tule Lake internment camp in Calif., the sisters were moved to the camp in Jerome when Tule Lake became a segregation center.
It is the very promise that’s written on the Statue of Liberty. I think of many immigrants throughout American history who are coming from places that repressed innovation, repressed free thinking, repressed all of those rights we as Americans now sometimes take for granted.
Because of circumstances beyond their control, especially during World War II, my family was forced to make a choice between their identity as Americans and their connection to their cultural heritage. Sadly, that was the case for every family of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast who were in the area affected by Executive Order 9066, mandating their relocation to remote internment camps.
After decades of education and activism—with the civil rights movement, the ethnic studies movement—mainstream museums now are able to allow voices other than the dominant narrative to be heard. I think we’re so much closer to understanding that everybody has a right to their own stories, to their own histories, or to their own culture, and that America is big enough to accept all of this.
Eduardo Díaz Director, Smithsonian Latino Center
My viewpoint is that America is both continent and country, which helps understand the Latino experience in the United States. The majority of the Latino community is not immigrant; it’s native-born, including myself. In 1848, when Mexico and the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, all of these Mexican citizens suddenly became U.S. citizens. So, in some ways, you could say, we didn’t cross the border—the border crossed us.
Above: In The Dominican York, artist Scherezade García invokes a term adopted by Dominican American artists living in New York to reflect their hybrid culture. García’s work focuses on migrations that have populated the Americas.
It’s a complex process of developing perspectives around identity or immigration. You have to dig deeper and ask a lot of questions, some of them penetrating and uncomfortable. I think it’s the only way you can understand the multiplicity of settlement, immigration and migration experiences that are being lived out every day in this country. That’s our job, illuminating the Latino experience.
"You have to dig deeper and ask a lot of questions, some of them penetrating and uncomfortable."
I think the American public would do well to take notice of what’s happening in their communities, look at the histories of established Latino communities and demographic shifts, and understand the diverse heritage that has informed the building of this nation and the shaping of national culture. If they do, they will find this is a very diverse country, historically and culturally, dating back to its early stages.
Corine Wegener Director, Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative
Above: Puerto Rico’s Museum of Art in Ponce was one of many museums damaged by Hurricane Maria. Following the hurricane, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative helped the island’s cultural organizations mitigate damage to artworks and artifacts and plan for the next natural disaster.
Hurricanes. Fires. Floods. For most of us, natural disasters bring worries for safety of home and family. For museum directors and conservationists, those worries extend to keeping historic treasures safe. A community’s shared heritage can hang in the balance.
When Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, causing widespread damage and threatening priceless artworks and archives, the Smithsonian sprang into action. We immediately pooled funds from across several Smithsonian museums to cover the cost of diesel fuel for the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico in San Juan—a Smithsonian Affiliate and the largest museum on the island—to keep its generator and air conditioning running.
Once power was restored, and the immediate risk had passed, the museum became a critical temporary storage resource for other museums across the island, many of which remained without power for weeks. At one point, the museum housed more than 200 artworks and artifacts from seven different collections.
"This kind of coordination is critical to cultural heritage rescue work and helps broaden the discussion of what can be done in response and recovery."
The Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, which protects cultural heritage threatened or impacted by disasters worldwide, also helped bring Puerto Rico’s cultural community together to organize a response. A Smithsonian conservator joined two U.S. government emergency response missions to meet with Puerto Rican conservators at several museums. The teams provided expert advice on mitigating immediate damage to artworks and documents and helped develop a comprehensive conservation strategy that all Puerto Rican museums could use. This kind of coordination is critical to cultural heritage rescue work and helps broaden the discussion of what can be done in response and recovery.
Above: Puerto Rico’s Museum of Art in Ponce was able to reopen its doors days after Hurricane Maria swept the island. Other museums and archives remained without power for weeks, putting artworks at risk of deterioration.
For example, the Smithsonian and the Federal Emergency Management Agency co-chair the Heritage Emergency National Task Force—a public-private partnership of 58 federal agencies and service organizations. Through the task force, we organized the first annual Heritage Emergency and Response Training (HEART) workshop for U.S. cultural heritage professionals and emergency managers in November 2017. Four months later, we convened a second HEART workshop specifically for Puerto Rican cultural heritage professionals, supported by the MKM Foundation, to strengthen their recovery and help plan for the next natural disaster.
These participants now join a global group of "superheroes" who use their knowledge of risk and damage assessment, documentation, and salvage and evacuation techniques to save cultural heritage at risk.
By participating in the U.S. government response to protect cultural heritage impacted by disasters and by offering training, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative is preparing the next generation to be the first line of defense in the face of disaster, with the aim of preserving communities’ identities and their cultural way of life.
One of the most gratifying moments in our Puerto Rico response came when one of our 2017 HEART graduates—a conservator from the Museum of Art in Ponce—participated as a leader in the HEART Puerto Rico training. Our long-term vision is to continue to grow our global network of cultural stewards to be a resource for helping their communities at home and abroad.
Kevin Gover Director, National Museum of the American Indian
Above: The National Museum of the American Indian’s Americans exhibition reveals the deep connections between Americans and American Indians.
Americans have been fascinated by and conflicted about Native Americans since the founding of this country. George Armstrong Custer was a hero—until he wasn’t. Andrew Jackson is not the person today that our grandparents remember. The story of Pocahontas changes with each retelling.
Nowhere is the nation’s ambivalence toward Native Americans more evident than in the debate over sports teams and logos. Some hold that naming teams after Native American caricatures recognizes the strength and fortitude of Native peoples. History tells us otherwise. In fact, the use of Native Americans as mascots arose during the allotment period, a time when U.S. policy sought to eradicate Native sovereignty, and Wild West shows cemented the image of Indians as plains warriors.
When it comes to sports, fans’ deep loyalty to a hometown team can perpetuate a name or logo that would certainly meet any dictionary definition of racist. This, in turn, constrains Native Americans’ self-identity and limits self-esteem, especially among youth.
But the tide is turning. The Cleveland Indians’ recent decision to part ways with their mascot, Chief Wahoo—the infamous red-faced caricature of an American Indian—is a big step in the right direction. Teams that reject outdated stereotypes make a clear statement in favor of a more diverse and inclusive America.
At the National Museum of the American Indian, we engage the public on complex issues such as the debate surrounding team names and mascots. Our Americans exhibition, on display through 2022 in Washington, D.C., includes objects branded with Native American sports logos to get visitors thinking about the meaning behind images they see every day. Our curators and educators speak frequently on stereotypes in sports and encourage open discussion.
Above: The Kansas City Chiefs football team is one of many American sports franchises to adopt Native American imagery. In recent years, some teams have begun to rethink such practices.
"Teams that reject outdated stereotypes make a clear statement in favor of a more diverse and inclusive America."
Above: American Indians are less than one percent of the U.S. population, yet their images are everywhere—on sports logos, automobiles and everyday consumer brands. Americans, a major exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian, highlights the ways in which American Indians have been part of the nation’s identity since before the country began.
As a nation, we still live with symbols of racism in our public spaces and popular culture. But we are also at a stage where we can have an honest discussion about their origins and impact and address the harm they do.
Our hope is that sports fans will find joy in the game at the same time they consider their team name and mascot. Our hope is the day will come when we don’t have to explain and defend negative images and names to our children and grandchildren. Our role at the Smithsonian is to help citizens find the way forward.
Sign up for Smithsonian email. Hear firsthand how we're tackling our planet's biggest scientific challenges, giving voices to artists of the past, present, and future, and preserving culture and history for future generations.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, the Smithsonian's impact is felt far beyond the National Mall.
You can help our scientists, researchers and curators to provide unforgettable experiences to millions of visitors each year, work to expand our knowledge and solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
The Smithsonian welcomes nearly 30 million visitors each year and engages millions more through outreach and compelling digital content. In 2017, we continued to innovate the ways we connect with new audiences to bring world-changing research and thought-provoking exhibitions and educational programs to the places where they are. Here’s how.
Above: One Sidedoor episode tells the story of J. Dilla, a prolific hip-hop artist who collaborated with everyone from Questlove to Erykah Badu. All illustrations by Greg Fisk.
The Smithsonian launched Sidedoor , its first podcast to mine the rich work and discovery taking place across the Institution and the world. Host Tony Cohn tells stories from a "One Smithsonian" perspective, covering topics as diverse as the mysterious death of a prolific Smithsonian scientist and how our research contributed to the survival of a premature baby hippopotamus. The biweekly podcast, with support from PRX, has reached listeners in every state and 146 countries, been downloaded 2.25+ million times and made Apple Podcasts' top-10 chart, ranking No. 1 on its Government and Organizations chart. The Atlantic named Sidedoor one of 2017's 25 best podcasts, saying its "charm and realness fueled by the resources of the vast Smithsonian, including access to all of its experts… created some of the best narratives this year."
Above: The Sidedoor podcast featured interviews with artists Amy Sherald and Ai Weiwei. Sherald painted a portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama, on view at the National Portrait Gallery. Ai’s installation, Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn, portrayed activists and prisoners of conscience.
Listen: si.edu/sidedoor and follow: Twitter at @SidedoorPod
Above: The We Wear Culture virtual exhibition brings 3,000 years of global fashion together—from a 6th century gold medallion in the Freer|Sackler collection to work from the Black Fashion Museum, founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane.
Three Smithsonian museums—the National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of African Art and Freer|Sackler—joined leading cultural institutions from 42 countries in Google’s 2017 launch of the We Wear Culture fashion project. This massive online exhibition of global style examines the evolution and cultural significance of fashion going back 3,000 years, and the stories behind the clothes we wear.
Above: Destination Moon, a traveling exhibition commemorating the first moon landing in 1969, has embarked on a two-year national tour—to Houston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Seattle.
The National Air and Space Museum and Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service are commemorating one of humankind’s greatest achievements, the first moon landing in 1969, with a two-year national exhibition tour. Through Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, the Command Module Columbia and other artifacts will visit Smithsonian Affiliate museums in Houston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Seattle.
The exhibition will return to the museum’s reimagined permanent gallery, set to open in 2021. The tour is supported by Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos, Joe Clark, Bruce R. McCaw Family Foundation, Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, John and Susann Norton, and Gregory D. and Jennifer Walston Johnson. Transportation services for the exhibition are provided by FedEx.
Above: In August 2017, more than 757,000 people used the Smithsonian Eclipse app to track and learn about a rare coast-to-coast solar eclipse.
The Smithsonian partners to create mobile applications for just about everything under the sun. On Aug. 21, 2017, when a rare coast-to-coast solar eclipse thrilled Americans, more than 757,000 people used the Smithsonian Eclipse 2017 app, created by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO).
It was the most downloaded free eclipse app on the Apple App store. Viewers were able to watch a live NASA stream of the event as it traveled across the continental United States, calculate their best view with an interactive eclipse map and get a virtual view in an eclipse simulator. The app offers a deeper look into SAO’s cutting-edge solar research and was made possible by a grant through the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.
Above: The exhibition featuring Yayoi Kusama has been a blockbuster in every city where it has toured.
This blockbuster 2017 Smithsonian exhibition—the first to explore the iconic Infinity Mirror Rooms of the legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama—was a cultural phenomenon that transformed the public’s engagement with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and broke attendance records.
Above: Six weeks into the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors, visitors had made significant progress in covering The Obliteration Room with polka-dot stickers. The polka dots acted as an equalizer and connector among those participating in the artwork.
Following this debut, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors embarked on the first North American retrospective tour of the artist’s work in nearly 20 years. The exhibition has been made possible through generous lead support from Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore, and Victoria Miro, London. Major support has been provided by The Broad Art Foundation, Benjamin R. Hunter and David Zwirner, New York/London.
Smithsonian Secretary David J. Skorton established his Youth Advisory Council as a way to gain advice and insight from Washington, D.C. area teens about the Institution’s work, programming and visitor engagement. In 2017, through a pilot expansion program, 10 national teens joined the Secretary and local high school students for a live teleconference. The students were selected through these Smithsonian Affiliates: Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Mich.; Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Fort Worth, Texas; National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; The Rockwell Museum, Corning, N.Y.; Upcountry History Museum, Furman University, Greenville, S.C. The council advises quarterly on topics such as technology in museums and how the Smithsonian can address societal conflicts, be catalysts for dialogue and accomplish its goal of reaching 1 billion visitors.
Sign up for Smithsonian email. Hear firsthand how we're tackling our planet's biggest scientific challenges, giving voices to artists of the past, present, and future, and preserving culture and history for future generations.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, the Smithsonian's impact is felt far beyond the National Mall.
You can help our scientists, researchers and curators to provide unforgettable experiences to millions of visitors each year, work to expand our knowledge and solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
from art deco designs to the Apollo 11 Command Module, made available to 150 million online visitors each year
annually by education programs on-site, including eight new education centers funded by campaign gifts
of new or renovated galleries and public spaces in 11 museums and the National Zoo, welcoming 25M+ visitors each year
ensuring funding in perpetuity to support Smithsonian scholars and leaders—all respected experts bringing new knowledge to their fields
Sources of Funds
Sign up for Smithsonian email. Hear firsthand how we're tackling our planet's biggest scientific challenges, giving voices to artists of the past, present, and future, and preserving culture and history for future generations.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, the Smithsonian's impact is felt far beyond the National Mall.
You can help our scientists, researchers and curators to provide unforgettable experiences to millions of visitors each year, work to expand our knowledge and solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
A year in the life of the Smithsonian brings untold moments of wonder: a curator unveiling a previously unknown photograph of Harriet Tubman; a zookeeper tending to three newborn gazelle calves; an art museum holding a first-ever Asian night market on the National Mall. Here's a glimpse of what we do, every day, to inspire learning and discovery.
Sign up for Smithsonian email. Hear firsthand how we're tackling our planet's biggest scientific challenges, giving voices to artists of the past, present, and future, and preserving culture and history for future generations.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, the Smithsonian's impact is felt far beyond the National Mall.
You can help our scientists, researchers and curators to provide unforgettable experiences to millions of visitors each year, work to expand our knowledge and solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
In May 2017, Smithsonian scientists released 90 human-bred Limosa harlequin frogs—a critically endangered species—into the Panamanian rainforest to study whether the frogs can survive and persist in the wild. As part of the first-time trial, 16 of the frogs were outfitted with small radio transmitters to collect data on survivorship, dispersal and behavior.
In early 2018, researchers released a second group of 500 frogs (30 with radio transmitters) in Panama’s Colon Province, with support from First Quantum Minerals, National Geographic Society, Mohammed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and the WoodTiger Fund. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute are partners in the project.
Photo credit: Roshan Patel, Smithsonian's National Zoo
Following a two-year renovation, the Freer|Sackler—the Smithsonian's museums of Asian art—reopened with a weekend celebration and a first-ever Asian night market on the National Mall. The festivities included a commissioned video art projection on the Freer’s façade, which told the story of museum founder Charles Lang Freer.
Photo credit: ‘A Perfect Harmony’ by 59 Productions
A previously unrecorded image of abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman surfaced in an album of 44 rare photographs acquired by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Library of Congress. The portrait, likely taken when Tubman was in her mid-40s, will go on display at the museum in late 2018.
Photo credit: Collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture shared with the Library of Congress
The Giant Magellan Telescope Organization—an international consortium that includes the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory—cast the fifth of seven mirrors that will form the heart of the Giant Magellan Telescope. Casting each mirror is a huge endeavor, involving melting nearly 20 tons of glass in a spinning furnace. The 25-meter-diameter telescope, which will begin operation in 2023, will be sited in the Chilean Andes. It will be used to study planets around other stars and to look back to the time when the first galaxies formed.
Photo credit: Damien Jemison
Pickett's Charge , a large-scale commissioned artwork by Los Angeles-based artist Mark Bradford, opened in November at the Hirshhorn Museum. The series of eight abstract paintings, which span the museum’s entire third floor, depict the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. The exhibition runs through November 12, 2018.
Photo credit: Cathy Carver. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.
The National Museum of the American Indian installed an 11.5-foot-tall mile-marker post handmade by activists protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. The post—a donation to the museum—comes from the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) protest camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation bordered by North Dakota. The Standing Rock Sioux assert that the pipeline threatens their lands and water quality. Another key issue for the tribe is protecting treaty rights and the right to be consulted as a government. Visitors can view the post in the museum exhibition Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations .
Photo credit: Photo by Paul Morigi/AP Images for the National Museum of the American Indian.
Continuing a longtime Smithsonian tradition, First Lady Melania Trump donated her 2017 inaugural ball gown to the National Museum of American History. French-American designer Hervé Pierre created the off-the-shoulder vanilla silk crepe gown in collaboration with Trump. Her dress joins 26 others in the popular museum exhibition The First Ladies , which explores the changing role of America’s first ladies over time.
Photo credit: Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum announced the winners of the 2017 National Design Awards, recognizing design excellence and innovation in categories including architecture, product, fashion and landscape design. MASS Design Group, a firm based in Boston and Kigali, Rwanda, won the award for architecture design. Their design for Ilima Primary School in the Congo Basin (pictured) enables and encourages integration with local wildlife.
Photo credit: MASS Design Group
In August, the National Museum of the American Indian presented the 17th Native Cinema Showcase in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The showcase screened more than 50 feature-length and short films representing seven countries and 31 Native nations. Noteworthy screenings included the premiere of the documentary Mankiller , which celebrates the life of Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to be elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. In this photo, the Mankiller film crew interviews Mankiller’s daughter, Felicia Olaya, at her family home in Oklahoma.
Photo credit: Evan Taylor
The National Portrait Gallery announced a historic acquisition: the earliest known photograph of a U.S. President. Dating from 1843, the photograph of President John Quincy Adams is a unique daguerreotype produced just four years after the medium of photography emerged. The portrait is now on public view as part of the museum’s America’s Presidents gallery.
Photo credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Top Facebook post (2017): During Thanksgiving week, a Smithsonian Facebook post on this 1965 CorningWare dish—part of the National Museum of American History collection—drew nearly 1,000 comments, many highlighting family stories. One follower recalled, “Back in the early seventies, I had just gotten married and moved with my new husband to his family farm in Minnesota. A tornado blew my home to smithereens but what survived? My blue cornflower CorningWare was strewn all about and not one piece broke!”
Photo credit: Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of American History
The National Zoo celebrated the birth of three dama gazelle calves—two boys and a girl. Native to Chad, Mali and Niger, dama gazelles are critically endangered; fewer than 500 remain in the wild due to habitat loss, hunting and drought. The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute conducts veterinary and reproductive research to help save the species.
Photo credit: Michelle Chatterton, Smithsonian's National Zoo
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival marked its 50th anniversary with programs exploring the tradition of circus arts, including acrobatics, aerials and clowning. A second festival theme highlighted migraton's impact on American culture. Since 1967, the festival has brought more than 2,300 musicians, artists, performers, craftspeople and storytellers to the National Mall.
Photo credit: Jeff Malet
To commemorate the centennial of President John F. Kennedy’s birth, the Smithsonian American Art Museum hosted a series of performances on the themes of courage, freedom, justice, service and gratitude. Dancers from The Washington Ballet performed excerpts from WHO WHEN WHY, a commissioned work inspired by Kennedy’s quote, “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
Photo credit: Juan Carlos Briceña
Top Twitter post (2017): On Twitter, the Smithsonian hosted its first-ever online rap battle (or “cypher”) to drum up support for the forthcoming Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap. The post prompted each Smithsonian museum to step up to the Twitter mic to drop rhymes about their history and exhibitions. It ran during a one-month Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the anthology, which attracted more than 2,800 donors. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are co-producing the project.
Photo credit: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture © Al Pereira