Curators' Corner

"An important first step is understanding how tropical forests worldwide, climate, and the food and other products that we consume are all interconnected on the global scale. Collectively we can have a real impact," says forest ecologist Kristina Anderson-Teixeira.

Yes, Tropical Forests Tragically Burned This Summer, but Here’s What You Can Do

Fires stoked worldwide anxiety, but Smithsonian forest ecologist Kristina Anderson-Teixeira offers a few practices for making a difference

The Smithsonian's American Food History Project seeks to understand the history of the U.S. through the multi-faceted lens of food.

Food, Glorious Food

How Food Brought Success to a Chef, a Cookbook Author and a Restaurateur

Historian Ashley Rose Young shares research from the Smithsonian’s 23-year-long ‘American Food History Project’

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How Lonnie Bunch Built a Museum Dream Team

An exclusive excerpt from the Smithsonian Secretary’s new book, ‘A Fool’s Errand’

The Smithsonian has launched the first national-scale, scholarly research and collecting project to gather and preserve the artifacts, documents and voices associated with the beer industry’s craft revolution (above: label, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company).

Food, Glorious Food

Here’s What’s Brewing in the New Smithsonian Beer Collections

After two years of documenting the nation’s craft brewing industry, curator Theresa McCulla makes ready for a public debut

At right is a left front foot followed by the hind foot of the mysterious Chirotherium, or "hand beast." The tracks were first found in the German town of Hildburghausen.

The Long, Strange Tale of the Hand Beast Footprints

A Triassic creature left curious tracks in the sandstone; it took decades to unravel the mystery

Using heavy picks, Smithsonian researchers in 1923 worked on excavations in Dinosaur National Monument on the border of Colorado and Utah.

How to Discover Dinosaurs

Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues reveals some of his tips for finding and excavating a Mesozoic monster

In a fit of pique, according to one of Aesop's fables, the god Hermes made the animal carry its house forever on its back.

How the Turtle Got Its Shell, With Apologies to Aesop

Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues unpacks the complicated evolution of how this creature grew a home upon its back

Julia Child and her husband Paul Child at their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Food, Glorious Food

Remembering Julia Child

Smithsonian curator Paula Johnson addresses many of the questions visitors ask about America’s beloved cooking teacher and her kitchen

Style, identity and agency are fundamental themes in the work of Mickalene Thomas (above: Portrait of Mnonja).

Re:Frame

The Fierce Pride and Passion of Rhinestone Fashion

In this episode of ‘Re:Frame,’ Smithsonian curators investigate the intentionality and agency behind the clothing we wear

One witness to an 1859 Northern Lights display was the artist Frederic Edwin Church, who later painted Aurora Borealis (above, detail).

Re:Frame

The Crazy Superstitions and Real-Life Science of the Northern Lights

In the latest episode of ‘Re:Frame,’ Smithsonian curators take a deep dive into the dramatic painting ‘Aurora Borealis’ by Frederic Church

A new episode of the web series “Re:Frame” from the Smithsonian American Art Museum explores the story and artworks of Mingering Mike.

Re:Frame

All the World’s a Fantastical Stage for the Artist Mingering Mike

‘Re:Frame’ delves into a work of one of Washington D.C.’s most imaginative artists and his fascination with the historic Howard Theatre

“Re:Frame,” a video web series produced by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, investigates the compelling role graphite has played in the history of art—and in Teresita Fernández’s work.

Re:Frame

How Artist Teresita Fernández Turns Graphite, the Stuff of Stardust, Into Memories

A new episode of the Smithsonian’s ‘Re:Frame,’ explores the origin of graphite, a material artists have used for centuries

The artwork Harvest Time, (detail) by Doris Lee, is featured in the next episode of a new video web series, titled “Re:Frame.”

Re:Frame

How American Brewers Employed Fine Art to Sell Beer

The Smithsonian’s ‘Re:Frame’ investigates how artist Doris Lee gave beer a new post-prohibition image of domesticity and conviviality

In 1912, sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor created Buffalo (model for Q Street Bridge).

Re:Frame

What Do Bovids, Bridges and the West Have to Do With American Art?

In the debut episode of “Re:Frame,” Smithsonian curators explore the iconic symbol of the West, the American Bison

How do parts of ancient creatures, like this fossil skull of an extinct herbivore, Miniochoerus from 33 million years ago, manage to survive and end up in a museum exhibition?

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Do Fossils Form?

Learn from the Smithsonian’s curator of vertebrate paleontology Anna K. Behrensmeyer, a pioneer in the study of how organic remains become fossils

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What Is the Smallest Known Dinosaur and Other Questions Answered by Dr. Hans Sues

Cat-loving paleontologist answers your questions in the National Museum of Natural History's YouTube series, "The Doctor Is In."

Ultimately, to understand how the Earth’s carbon cycle works is to appreciate the human influence currently impacting it.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Does Earth's Carbon Cycle Work?

Stanford University’s Katharine Maher explains the mechanisms that heat and cool the planet

"I’ve never lost the wonder," says Hans-Dieter Sues (above). "To be the first human to find and touch an extinct creature is a singular moment that cannot be easily put into words."

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Do Paleontologists Find Fossils?

Smithsonian’s Hans-Dieter Sues, who has collected fossil vertebrates in the U.S. and around the world shares some of his tips

To all the looney lunar landing deniers and conspiracy theorists out there, NASA has just four words to say: "Apollo: Yes, We Did."

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

Yes, the United States Certainly DID Land Humans on the Moon

Moon-landing deniers, says space scholar and former NASA chief historian Roger Launius, are full of stuff and nonsense

The fossil Eremotherium was from south Georgia. And it was an important one, since it firmly establish the presence of the giant ground sloth, which had previously been unknown in the United States.

A Giant Sloth Mystery Brought Me Home to Georgia

A new book from former Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough describes his journey into the collections in search of connections to his heritage

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