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Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

Timelapse photo of a bright pink night sky with the trails of stars creating concentric white circles. Tops of trees are lit up yellow at the bottom of the photo.

Finding Hope in Sidewalk Astronomy, From a Neighborhood Near You to a Galaxy Far, Far Away

During the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, sidewalk astronomers brought a sense of hope into Washington, D.C.

Backshot of two men work together to pin blueprints of a building design to a corkboard wall.

In Charleston, American College of the Building Arts Educates the Next Generation of Craftspeople

Synthesizing liberal arts education with hands-on experience in architectural trades, ACBA strives to encourage the preservation, enrichment, and understanding of global architectural heritage.

Gray headstones and green grass and trees in a cemetery.

Cemeteries That Save the American Landscape

Covering two million acres of U.S. soil, cemeteries are lush with potential for the living and the land.

A beautiful rust colored hill against a blue, cloudy sky.

The Power of “Bears Ears” and Indigenous Place Names

What’s in a name? It’s an important part of our identity, our existence, connecting us to our cultural and social realms.

Various cobs of multicolored corn.

How Seeds Tell Stories

In the past century, there has been a seventy-five percent decline in agricultural biodiversity. When we fail to prioritize biodiversity, we risk erasing cultural diversity as well.

Artyom Ghazaryan in his studio in Yeghegnadzor. (Photo by Narek Harutyunyan, My Armenia Program)

The Spirit Across Regions: Armenia from the Local Perspective

Yerevan Magazine spoke with several beneficiaries of the My Armenia Program who offer exciting tourism experiences in different regions of Armenia.

Stunning views inside the Arpa Protected Landscape. (Photo by My Armenia Program)

Adventuring the Armenian Way

Armenia is a museum under an open sky with hundreds of opportunities to actively explore outside.

The Indianola dock stretches out into the Puget Sound. Since time immemorial, the Suquamish Tribe has sourced their sustenance, folklore, and community from the salt waters and pebbly beaches of the sound. Photo by Julian White-Davis

The Struggle for Native Lands in Indianola, Washington

Indianola’s beaches were once the home of the Suquamish Tribe, or in their language, Southern Lushootseed, suq̀wabš—People of Clear Salt Water.

From Insects, their way and means of living. Artwork by R. E. Snodgrass

Cicada Folklore, or Why We Don’t Mind Billions of Burrowing Bugs at Once

The earliest documented examples of cicada folklore come from China.

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