Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

The GREENING of an old exhibition

What happens to old exhibitions when they finally come back to SITES' headquarters in Washington, D.C.? If they're in good condition, sometimes panels and photographs are donated to organizations that want to create permanent displays. But, if a SITES presentation shows its age, with the expected wear of a traveling exhibition visible, what happens then? 

We've embarked on a new "green" initiative with the Smithsonian's building management office to make sure old exhibitions don't end up in a landfill. Mother Earth rejoice: we're now recycling crates and exhibition furniture. When 381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story ended its six-year tour recently, the condition of the exhibition was such that it could not be donated (SITES has a fairly high standard for "good enough"), but the alternative of throwing away this 3,500-square-foot exhibition and its accompanying crates seemed preposterous.

Thanks to the efforts of Chevene Bailey, Lawrence Fields, Tracey Rollins, Otis Massey, Erica Byers, and the head of their department, Randy Peters, with the assistance of Mike Kelton at the Smithsonian's Office of Exhibits Central, this show didn't have to end its life underground. Instead, we were able to sort out the individual components for recycling. Metal and wood were stripped out as were other elements: destined to be reused or recycled.

For more on the "GREENING" of our organization, check out Green Revolution

Obamas Choose 4 William H. Johnson Paintings for the White House

The Obamas love the art of Willam H. Johnson--and so will your museum visitors.

On Tuesday, October 6, the White House announced the list of artworks that will now grace their famous walls, and Johnson is prominently featured. In a happy coincidence, SITES is launching a new exhibition, William H. Johnson: An American Modern, a collection of 20 extraordinary paintings that span the artist's career, from the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University. 

Four works by the 20th-century American artist were included on the Obamas' list--all painted around 1944, and all on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A pivotal figure in modern American art, Johnson (1901-1970), was a sophisticated virtuoso in many media and techniques, and trained in the US and Europe. His work was a conscious response to the prevailing conventions of refinement, taste, and artistic beauty. In works he did late in his career, such as the four now hanging in the White House, Johnson used flat, elongated human forms in bold shapes of intense color, flanked by seemingly simple curves and lines. In so much of his art, his broad visual vocabulary disguised the complexity of his "simplicity,"-- to many, his works are considered a bold reclamation of an African American aesthetic.

--Teresa Gionis, SITES writer/editor

William Johnson, "Aunt Alice," c.1940  Courtesy Morgan State University

Ted Kennedy: The "Lion" Sleeps--and an Era Ends

Three weeks have passed since the death of Senator Ted Kennedy, "the Lion of the Senate." One of the most influential and powerful senators in our history, he served congress for 46 years. For millions, his death marks the end of an era. The political triumphs and personal tragedies of brothers Ted, Bobby, and John Kennedy have fascinated the public for decades.

The mountain of media coverage surrouding the senator's passing included the familiar, now classic newsreels and archival photographs depicting the lives and tragic deaths of his brothers. They are pictures steeped in mythology. The impossibly young and athletic Kennedys cavorting on their Hyannis Port, Massachusetts compound. Beaming smiles at various spots along the campaign trail during their political rise. Posing with their wives and growing families. And of course, there are the tragic pictures. We watched in disbelief as first one, then, incomprehensibly, two of the brothers were felled by assassins' bullets. And a tiny boy bravely saluted his father's coffin.

Though these images have been burned into our national consciousness, there is another collection of pictures, beautiful and rare, that until recently have not been seen by the public. A series of Kennedy family photographs, taken by the elite photographer Richard Avedon on January 3, 1961, are an exquisite addition to the body of imagery that documents this larger-than-life family. These unforgettable, and deeply personal pictures, now traveling in the SITES exhibition The Kennedys: Portrait of a Family, capture the essence of John F. Kennedy's young family at their finest, looking their most...mythical.

The exhibition's curator, Shannon Thomas Perich, says that "these poignant and stirring photographs never fail to trigger memories, generate conversation, and make visitors recognize that they themselves are part of American history."

To see more of these incredible pictures, or learn about the exhibition, visit our website.

-Teresa G. Gionis, SITES Writer/Editor