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Upcoming exhibition:

  • Mail art (alternatively called “correspondence art” or “postal art”) emerged as a form of artistic practice in which an international network of participants use the mail to make art and share it with others regarding culture and communications, creatively sidestepping the art market and, in many instances, eluding government censors.

News

Call for Essay Proposals: Special Issue of the Archives of American Art Journal on Feminism and Archives

Jun. 13, 2018

In support of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, the Archives of American Art Journal is planning a special issue showcasing new approaches to feminism, American art, and its archives. We invite proposals for manuscripts that ask: What constitutes a feminist reading of an archive? In what ways do archives serve or challenge feminist art histories?

Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic

Jun. 11, 2018

On July 13, the Archives of American Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art will present a symposium funded by The Keith Haring Foundation focused on memories of the AIDS crisis in the 1980's and 90's.

Archives of American Art Announces Major Promised Gift From the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation

Jun. 6, 2018

The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art announced that it is the beneficiary of a major promised gift from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation: the expansive Roy Lichtenstein Foundation records and Roy Lichtenstein papers comprising over 500 linear feet. The gift constitutes the most complete research resource anywhere on the art and life of the artist and his times, illuminating Lichtenstein’s wide-reaching influence and legacy. The foundation will support the digitization of the collection in collaboration with the Archives and will gift the papers in stages.

Terra Foundation Center for Digital Collections

A virtual repository of a substantial cross-section of the Archives' most significant collections.

Visit the Terra Foundation Center for Digital Collections

Visit a Research Center

Original material can be consulted by appointment in our Washington, D.C. Headquarters.

Select holdings are available on microfilm at the Archives' offices in Washington, D.C. and at our New York Office.

Copies of unrestricted microfilm materials can be obtained through one of our affiliated research centers.

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Internship, fellowship, and volunteer opportunities provide students and lifelong learners with the ability to contribute to the study and preservation of visual arts records in America.