The museum first opened to the public in 1968 when the Smithsonian renovated the Old Patent Office Building in order to display its collection of American works. This building is shared with the National Portrait Gallery, another Smithsonian museum. The American Art Museum had previously been known as the National Museum of American Art but changed to the current name in October 2000. The museum closed in January 2000 for a major building renovation, and is scheduled to reopen on July 4, 2006. During the renovations, much of the collection is visible at travelling exhibitions across the United States.
The Smithsonian AmericanArtMuseum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of Americanart.
The museum closed in January 2000 for a major building renovation, and is scheduled to reopen on July 4, 2006.
Also under the auspices of the Smithsonian AmericanArtMuseum, the Rewick Gallery is a smaller, historic art space on Pennsylvania Avenue across the street from the White House.
Chartered as the Museum of Early American Folk Arts when it was founded in 1961, the Museum originally focused on the vernacular arts of 18th and 19th century America, especially of the northeast.
The American Folk ArtMuseums Inaugural Season of Exhibitions, launched with the opening of the new building, will illustrate the Museums commitment to an expanded range of interests from traditional folk art of the 18th and 19th centuries to the work of contemporary self-taught artists from the U.S. and abroad.
Art will also be integrated into public spaces, such as the lobby, stairwells, and hallways, utilizing a system of niches throughout the building that offers interaction with a changing group of folk art objects beyond the gallery setting.
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