The Smithsonian Institution
si.edu | @smithsonian (Photo by Sara Cottle on Unsplash)
The Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington DC, is a network of 19 art, science, design, and history museums. It is also home to the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. You can see a full list at this link. Their homepage features links to digital resources compiled from their members. Explore & Learn is a series of collections of blog posts, podcasts, and activities organized into themes: Art & Design; History & Culture; and Science & Nature. Visitors can also choose from collections of types of content such as blogs, podcasts, or children’s activities.
Individual museums have developed their own social media and online content to keep audiences engaged during quarantine. I will highlight a few.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
hirshhorn.si.edu | @hirshhorn | #hirshhorninsideout
The Hirshhorn is a leading museum of contemporary art and culture in the US and has one of the most important collections of postwar American and European art in the world.
The museum is featuring #HirshhornInsideOut on their homepage, Instagram and Facebook. This includes posts by curators about works in the collection and their relevance to the current crisis and Hirshhorn Artist Diaries, videos by artists discussing their life and work during quarantine. These are also available on YouTube. Maker Mondays offer creative projects for children and adults.
American Art Museum
American.si.edu | @americanart
Their homepage features several resources, including online exhibitions, videos and a link to their virtual tour on Google Arts and Culture. Videos of their upcoming exhibition, Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture are available on YouTube.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
nmaahc.si.edu | @nmaahc
The newest museum on the National Mall is the only US museum dedicated to telling the story of African American life, history and culture through its collection of 36,000 objects.
They have assembled online exhibitions, video archives, digital publications and social media content into a digital resource guide available on their site.
Watch for new posts from Alessandra Pozzi and I as we continue to bring you updates.
