Stories for June 2006

Eye Level Live

June 30, 2006

Tomorrow Eye Level moves its operations from our offices to the museum. We’ll be blogging live throughout the day, documenting the opening for posterity and, of course, for those of you who can’t be here in person. We’ll also be...

Don't Miss These

June 30, 2006

Arthur Dove, Sun, 1943, wax emulsion on canvas, 24 x 32 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Suzanne M. Smith, 1989.83.3 Performances, demonstrations, and talks will mark the opening of the museum tomorrow. Assuming you have some interest in...

We Open Tomorrow

June 30, 2006

SAAM opens tomorrow. Photo by Tim Hursley. Tomorrow, a really wonderful thing happens, and though we’ve thought about it for days and months and years, now that the moment is here it’s hard to know quite what to say. We’re...

The View from the Red Carpet

June 29, 2006

Guests enjoy the pre-opening Gala. There are just a few staffers who were here in January 2000 when SAAM closed for renovation. I was one of them. July 2006 seemed far away back then —very abstract. So it was amazing...

Picture This: The Luce Foundation Center

June 27, 2006

Visitors to our Luce Foundation Center for American Art will see visible storage cases holding some 3300 works, including this case of Southwestern art featuring Kenneth M. Adams' Juan Duran. We open in 4 days. Related Link: QTVR of the...

Pomp and Circumstance

June 23, 2006

Chief Justice John Roberts gives opening remarks at building dedication. Smithsonian Secretary Larry Small and Fred W. Smith, Chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation are at his left. Photo by Jeff Gates. Smithsonian Institution Secretary Larry Small, Smithsonian American...

Final Touches: Our Building in Review

June 22, 2006

Putting the finishing touches on our building. We open in just nine days and everything is falling into place. Look behind the scenes at final artwork installations and finishing touches with this slide show. Donald W. Reynolds Center for American...

Architectural Cake Walk

June 21, 2006

Above, an edible version of a column capital with architectural implements; below, the real (non-edible) thing. Photos by Jeff Gates Yesterday, when Smithsonian Secretary Larry Small pronounced Patty Collette’s winning entry a “spectacular creation,” he wasn’t referring to a contest...

Luis Jiménez, 1940—2006

June 20, 2006

Artist Luis Jiménez poses with his work Vaquero. Born in El Paso and an alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin, Jiménez made sculpture that coupled a Pop medium (fiberglass) with traditional Southwestern themes. His work drew from the...

A Model Gallery

June 19, 2006

The Lincoln Gallery model (top) at the scale of 1/2 inch = 1 foot. The columns are 7 inches high. Notice the yellow pencil in the foreground. The actual Lincoln gallery (bottom) during installation at 1 inch = 1 inch...

Picture This: Installing Vaquero

June 18, 2006

On Thursday SAAM preparators reinstalled Luis Jiménez’s Vaquero at the north entrance of the building. We open in 13 days. Photo by Jeff Gates. Related Post: In Memoriam: Luis Jiménez (1940—2006) Luis Jiménez, American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum

In Memoriam: Luis Jiménez (1940—2006)

June 15, 2006

Luis Jiménez, Vaquero, modeled 1980/cast 1990, acrylic urethane, fiberglass, steel armature, 199 x 114 x 67 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Judith and Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Anne and Ronald Abramson, Thelma and Melvin Lenkin, 1990.44 Luis was...

Picture This: Where's My Statue?

June 14, 2006

With the number of people working to put everything in its place by opening day, "extreme coordination" is the key. Preparators left this identifying note on a pedestal to make sure it was reunited with its rightful owner. We open...

Picture This: Electronic Superhighway

June 10, 2006

Somebody was working on Nam June Paik's Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii yesterday. Those are sections of the lower Mississippi river attached to the gray plywood crate on the floor. There's a little video that gives a sense of...

Grand-Pop Parrish

June 7, 2006

Maxfield Parrish, Daybreak 1922, oil In your hurry to cut out of work early before Memorial Day, fill up the cooler, and head toward sunnier climes, you might have missed the news about the rather extraordinary sale of Maxfield Parrish’s...

Picture This: Little Tykes Rolled In

June 2, 2006

The last time I looked around the first floor this room was empty and dark. Now the lights are up and these little tykes have rolled in. (They will be part of American ABC.) We open in 29 days. American...