Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service's Blog

Elvis has ARRIVED

If you're a fan, you probably already know that Elvis Presley's 75th birthday is Friday. This is big, Big, BIG for folks who follow Elvis and for the Smithsonian as well. We're opening a tribute exhibition called "Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer" the same day, not in Memphis but in L.A.--the home of glitz and glam--at The Grammy Museum.

The exhibition, however, isn't about the razzle-dazzle Elvis, endlessly parodied in velvety popular culture. This is Elvis the meticulous musician and charismatic performer, a man on the verge of superstardom. This is the Elvis who caused 1950s America to convulse out of complacency.

It's truly a must-see exhibit, but we know that many, many fans will never be able to get to the physical exhibition. Don't fret. We've created a place (actually, many places) for fans to go and absorb it all. What's your social network of choice?

Elvis at 21 lives there:

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Smithsonian in YOUR classroom

At SITES, we’re always looking for new and interesting programs to recommend to our exhibitors. We suggest speakers, workshops, events, educational activities, and more so that our venues can reap the full benefit of hosting one of our exhibitions.

To this end, I was recently introduced to a program at the Smithsonian American Art Museum which matches perfectly with SITES’ core mission of bringing the Smithsonian to YOU.  This distance learning program, called Artful Connections, uses real-time videoconferencing in which museum docents teach lessons about U.S. history and culture using the museums’ extensive holdings of American art. That’s right – it’s basically a Smithsonian-led tour of Smithsonian artwork taking place right in YOUR classroom!  And best of all – it’s FREE!

Topics range from “The Lure of the West” to “Found Object Artworks” and correspond to national education standards. For SITES, I was most interested in the program “America’s Signs & Symbols,” as I suspected the themes would parallel those in our exhibition Becoming American: Teenagers & Immigration, making it an excellent program to recommend to future museums on the tour.

Actually observing the “America’s Signs & Symbols” videoconference helped me understand how the setup works, and how valuable the program really is. The docent sits at studio desk and speaks to a camera, using a computer monitor to zoom and indicate details on artwork seen on the screen in the classroom.  The docent sees what the students see on a one monitor, and another monitor shows video of the classroom itself (the view in this photo was later adjusted to be able to see the students – sweet kindergarteners from my hometown of Greenville, SC!)  This way, the instructor can see both the students and what the students are seeing, which facilitates communication and allows the program to run smoothly.

We’re hopeful that our exhibitors will use Artful Connections and recommend it to schools in their area. It’s another great way to experience the Smithsonian without coming to Washington, DC!

To learn more about Artful Connections or to schedule a tour, visit http://americanart.si.edu/education/video/.

Hey, this is new! Kind of like Facebook, huh?

Meeting an Apollo Astronaut

If you've followed our postings for a while now, you know that I get to work on our space and science exhibitions. Beyond: Visions of Planetary Landscapes (which opened this past weekend in Santa Barbara) has beautiful photographs of the planets and moons. NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration is a wondrous selection of artworks from NASA's art program. In development is Suited for Space, featuring the photographs of Mark Avino and based on the book by Space History curator Amanda Young. I've worked with scientists from the National Air and Space Museum and NASA, but until last week, my connection to real live astronauts had been through the artwork. 

Last Thursday, however, I had the privilege and honor of spending nearly an hour with artist Alan Bean. Name sound familiar? He is not only a painter, but he was the fourth man to set foot on the moon, exactly 40 years ago today, as an Apollo 12 astronaut. And he was the commander of Skylab II, living in space for nearly two full months.

Mr. Bean has graciously offered to loan us one of his recent works to share with the venues hosting NASA | ART. Currently on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on the mall in Washington, DC, his fabulous paintings will soon have to go back to their owners--all except one, which will be shipped to Colorado Springs to join the NASA | ART exhibition.

What makes Mr. Bean's artwork so special? Well, for one thing, no other artist in the world has ever been to the moon! And the paintings share Mr. Bean's deeply personal stories and memories. Each painting is also textured--little details that you might at first miss: A small bump here, a little scratch there. When I was examining the paintings with Mr. Bean, I learned that those bumps aren't dust or paint--they are pieces of the Apollo 12 heat shield. And that little scratch? Made with Mr. Bean's own hammer, brought back from the moon. The small pieces of fabric are pieces from his own spacesuit's flight patch, or part of the flag, and include bits of moon dust that still cling to the cloth 40 years later.

Looking at a painting with the actual artist is an extraordinary thing, but it is especially out of this world when the artist has lived in space!