Arts & Culture

Winston Churchill visits bomb-damaged Birmingham, England, during the Blitz.

How Winston Churchill Endured the Blitz—and Taught the People of England to Do the Same

In a new book, best-selling author Erik Larson examines the determination of the ‘British Bulldog’ during England’s darkest hour

An author of blockbuster books and a pioneering photographer, she braved the wilderness to collect these moths and butterflies.

As Popular in Her Day as J.K. Rowling, Gene Stratton-Porter Wrote to the Masses About America's Fading Natural Beauty

Despite her fame, you wouldn't know about this beloved writer unless you visit the vanishing Midwestern landscape she helped save

The circa 1968-96 Lunar con Tatuaje (Moon With Tattoo), made of stretched canvas and acrylic, is one of over 40 works in the retrospective.

New York Museum Highlights the Artwork of Zilia Sánchez

The Cuban American artist has long been a creative force. Now she’s having her big moment—in her tenth decade

Ken Gonzales-Day’s photograph of the Portrait of Shonke Mon-thi^ now resides in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Recognition of Major Osage Leader and Warrior Opens a New Window Into History

The story of Shonke Mon-thi^, a hidden figure in American history, is now recovered at the National Portrait Gallery

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See Indigenous Films at the Mother Tongue Film Festival

The four-day event shows more than 20 films featuring 28 languages from 22 regions

Depictions of Madame Yale often suggested that she had a hand in crafting her concoctions.

Madame Yale Made a Fortune With the 19th Century's Version of Goop

A century before today’s celebrity health gurus, an American businesswoman was a beauty with a brand

Grandma Moses Goes to the Big City (1946).

Women Who Shaped History

How the U.S. Government Deployed Grandma Moses Overseas in the Cold War

In 1950, an exhibition of the famed artist's paintings toured Europe in a promotional campaign of American culture

The six CD set Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings won a Grammy in the category for Best Historical Album. The set includes some well-known, not-so-well-known, and previously unreleased recordings spanning Seeger’s career.

Grammy Nod to Folkways’ Pete Seeger Collection Is a Fitting Tribute

The producers aim to inspire future generations to carry on the singer’s legacy

Cooking as a First Language has hosted Moroccan, Bangladeshi, Ecuadorian, South African and Caribbean dinners, among others.

These Supper Clubs Are Using Food to Cross Cultural Divides

Cooking classes in a growing number of cities are teaching U.S.-born residents to embrace their immigrant neighbors

Charles Darwin, left, and his conservative publisher, John Murray III, right.

Charles Darwin's Publisher Didn't Believe in Evolution, but Sold His Revolutionary Book Anyway

The famed naturalist and conservative stalwart John Murray III formed an unlikely alliance in popularizing a radical idea

The main building of the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island, Nebraska, was built by famed modernist architect Edward Durell Stone.

Seven Spots Where You Can See Big-Name Architecture in Small-Town America

From gas stations to public libraries, these celebrity architect-designed buildings are worth a road trip

The list includes Artemisia Gentileschi, Wilma Mankiller, Frances Glessner Lee and other Oscar-worthy women.

Based on a True Story

Nine Women Whose Remarkable Lives Deserve the Biopic Treatment

From Renaissance artists to aviation pioneers, suffragists and scientists, these women led lives destined for the silver screen

The high-quality ice comes straight from a pond located just a stone’s throw away from Ice Art Park, just west of downtown Fairbanks, where the annual competition is held.

The Painstaking Art of Ice Carving

It might be cold and labor intensive, but that doesn’t stop artists from testing their ice sculpting skills at the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks

Spectacular offerings include (clockwise from top left): John Singer Sargent; art in response to the Age of Humans; Preston Singletary; Yayoi Kusama; and the mighty influence of Alexander von Humboldt.

Twenty Smithsonian Shows to See in 2020

Women inventors, baseball stamps and a new Kusama Infinity Room are among the offerings

Dickens’ preferred place of burial—his Plan A—was “in the small graveyard under Rochester Castle wall, or in the little churches of Cobham or Shorne,” which were all near his country home.

Even in Death, Charles Dickens Left Behind a Riveting Tale of Deceit

New research unravels the scheme to bury the Victorian writer in Westminster Abbey—against his wishes

Janet Echelman's piece "1.78" has been on view in a variety of places, including Madrid in 2018. It will next be on display in Helsinki.

The Must-See Outdoor Art Installations of 2020

Janet Echelman, Yayoi Kusama and Dale Chihuly are just a few of the artists making massive sculptures for the year ahead

Olive oils for sale at The Spanish Table at Seattle's Pike Place Market.

Is Paying a Premium for European Foods Worth It?

New tariffs on certain wines, spirits, olive oil and cheeses from Europe have us wondering how much place really factors into taste

Peter Longstaff, a foot artist who participated in the neurological study.

Artists Who Paint With Their Feet Have Unique Brain Patterns

Neuroscientists determined that certain "sensory maps" in the brain become more refined when people use their feet like hands

John Baldessari, "Six Colorful Inside Jobs," 1977, 16mm film on video, color, silent; 32:53 minutes

How the Video Works of John Baldessari Defined Contemporary Art

Smithsonian curator Saisha Grayson examines the legacy of one of the greats of American Art

Great Nature, Storm on Mount Lyell from Johnson Peak by Chiura Obata, 1939

How Japanese Artist Chiura Obata Came to Be an American Great

With landscapes infused with an emotion borne of a life of struggle, this master receives his due in this traveling retrospective now at the Smithsonian

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