OU SHAED FUTUE:

COLLECTIONS HIGHLIGHTS

OCTOBE2022

The following stories highlight recent additions to the Smithsonian collections that have helped 

to shape and champion our strategic pan-Institutional initiatives including Life on a Sustainable 

Planet and Solving the Mysteries of the Universe. These highlights also show the collaborative 

nature of the Institution’s research collections, not only across Smithsonian units but in 

connection with leading research, art, and cultural organizations as well as prominent media 

outlets.
23RD CLASS OF NATIONAL DESIGN AWARD WINNERS

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

announced the 23rd class of National Design 

Award winners, honored for design innovation 

and impact in nine categories. Established in 

2000 as a project of the White House 

Millennium Council, the National Design 

Awards bring national recognition to the ways 

in which design enriches everyday life. 

Winners are selected by a multidisciplinary 

jury of practitioners, educators and leaders 

from a wide range of design fields.

In celebration of this year’s National Design Awards, Cooper Hewitt will offer free admission to museum 

visitors during National Design Week, Oct. 17–23, to make design accessible to all. National Design Week also 

marks Cooper Hewitt’s return to an operating schedule of seven days a week, following a modified schedule 

due to COVID-19.

This year’s National Design Award recipients are:

• Nader Tehrani, Design Visionary

• WEDEW by David Hertz, Climate Action

• Emily Adams Bode, Emerging Designer

• Rural Studio, Architecture / Interior Design

• Giorgia Lupi, Communication Design

• Felecia Davis, Digital Design

• Willy Chavarria, Fashion Design

• Kounkuey Design Initiative, Landscape Architecture

• CW&T, Product Design

“This year’s National Design Award winners reflect the central role that design can play in addressing some of 

the most urgent needs of our time,” said Maria Nicanor, director of the museum. “Attuned to increasing social 

and planetary challenges, all awardees, regardless of their category, have a regenerative approach to design 

work that takes into account our shared future. I’m grateful to our thoughtful jury this year for their selection. 

Their deliberations revealed that behind each winner is a philosophy of work that expertly weaves together 

technological innovation while elevating traditional craft, or that prioritizes preservation and reparation 

processes, ultimately designing for citizens, and not consumers—a reason for hope in today’s complex world if 

there ever was one.”
LANDMARK ACQUISITIONS REFLECT HIRSHHORN’S EXPANSIVE CURATORIAL MISSION

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has confirmed the acquisition of artworks 

proposed by curators and approved by its board that help evolve the understanding of contemporary art 

history. Since November 2019, the museum has acquired works by more than 60 boundary-breaking 

contemporary artists—such seminal artists as John Akomfrah, Deana Lawson, James Luna, Sondra Perry, 

Christina Quarles, Tschabalala Self, and Lee Ufan. The works span a broad mix of art-making media, including 

painting, sculpture, photography, film, installation and mixed-media assemblage. These curatorially guided 

recent additions represent continuity with the past by honoring Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s foundational 1966 gift 

while addressing the museum’s mission to acknowledge global and diverse perspectives.

“Acquiring work for the national museum of modern and contemporary art is an honor,” said Melissa Chiu, 

director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. “Through these recent acquisitions, we hope to 

showcase the international through-lines and diverse range of art by the artists who are shaping the course of 

art history and identify future needs of the permanent collection to accurately represent the 21st century.”

Joseph H. Hirshhorn’s 1966 gift laid the foundation for a national museum of modern art, which opened on 

the National Mall in 1974 with treasures by respected artists, including Alberto Giacometti, Barbara Hepworth, 

Jacob Lawrence, Louise Nevelson and Isamu Noguchi. The Hirshhorn builds on this legacy by broadening its 

holdings of late-20th- and 21st-century art to reflect a more expansive and inclusive global art narrative, 

highlighting voices that have long argued for greater visibility.
RENOVATIONS READY FOR DEBUT AT NASM

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will 

reopen half of its flagship building on the National Mall 

on Friday, October 14. Eight new and renovated 

exhibitions, the planetarium, museum store, and Mars 

Café will open on the building’s west end. The museum 

has been undergoing a seven-year renovation that 

began in 2018 and includes redesigning all 23 

exhibitions and presentation spaces, complete refacing 

of the exterior cladding, replacement of outdated 

mechanical systems and other repairs and 

improvements.

Only half of the building will be opening, and great 

interest in visiting is expected. Free timed-entry passes 

will be required to ensure visitors have an enjoyable 

experience. The passes were made available on the 

museum’s website on September 14.

“This is one of the most exciting times in the National 

Air and Space Museum’s history,” said Chris Browne, 

the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the museum. 

“When we open the first reimagined galleries, we hope 

all visitors are inspired by artifacts on display for the first time, favorite icons of aerospace presented in new 

ways, and diverse storytelling.”

The renovated museum will feature hundreds of new artifacts to the building such as Jackie Cochran’s T-38, 

the plane Cochran flew when she became the first woman to break the sound barrier; the Sharp DR 90 

Nemesis air racer, the most successful aircraft in air racing history flown by pilot and co-designer, Jon Sharp; 

and Sean Tucker’s custom-built aerobatic biplane, the Aviation Specialties Unlimited Challenger III. The fullsized X-Wing Starfighter that appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, on loan from Lucasfilm, will also be 

displayed for the first time and located outside of the planetarium.

Visitors will see favorite artifacts presented in new settings. The Apollo 11 command module Columbia will be 

housed in a custom-designed, climate-controlled case as the centerpiece of the “Destination Moon” exhibition 

alongside Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit. The 1903 Wright Flyer will be displayed in a dynamic new 

environment that better tells the story of the invention of flying and its implication on world history.

The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia displayed in the 

new “Destination Moon” exhibition.
8TH EDITION OF USA TODAY COLLABORATION: ¡PRESENTE!

The Office of the Under Secretary for Education, the Office of Communications and External Affairs, the 

Office of Advancement, and the National Museum of the American Latino are pleased to announce the 

release of ¡Presente!, a printed educational activity guide based on the stories and objects in the Molina 

Family Latino Gallery. The gallery, a preview of the National Museum of the American Latino in development, 

is located in the National Museum of American History.

This tremendous offering by Smithsonian educators is the eighth edition in our ongoing series produced in 

collaboration with USA TODAY. To date, almost 5 million household subscribers and learners in school 

districts, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Affiliate museums across the country have received these 

guides, expanding the Smithsonian’s reach and educational impact.

One million copies of this Hispanic Heritage Premium Edition were distributed nationwide via the USA 

TODAY network on Sunday, September 11. This collection allows learners of all ages to engage with 

inspirational and informative stories that explore the American Latino experience. Its activities will challenge 

readers to think about the causes of immigration, design a mural that tells a story about community, and 

explore profiles of Latinas and Latinos who have made the country what it is today.

This intergenerational guide can be shared with others via https://s.si.edu/PresenteGuide. Digital copies will 

be promoted on social media and available for download, joining the rest of Smithsonian’s distance learning 

resources on the Smithsonian Learning Lab website at https://learninglab.si.edu/distancelearning. A limited 

supply of additional print copies will be available at the Molina Family Latino Gallery.
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

ACQUIRES MORE THAN 200 ARTWORKS FOR ITS CRAFT COLLECTION

A recent campaign by the Smithsonian American Art 

Museum’s Renwick Gallery to acquire artworks by 

leading craft artists has brought more than 200 objects 

into its permanent collection. The Renwick Gallery 50th 

Anniversary Acquisition Campaign, which began in 

2020, focused on artworks made by a broadly 

representative and diverse group of American artists 

and significantly increases the number of Black, Latinx, 

Asian American, LGBTQ+, Indigenous, and women 

artists represented in the nation’s collection.

These newly acquired artworks are part of an effort to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the museum’s 

Renwick Gallery as the nation’s premier museum for the enjoyment and study of American craft. The artworks 

selected through this acquisitions campaign deepen the history of the studio craft movement while also 

introducing contemporary artworks that push the boundaries of what is considered to be handmade in the 

21st century. More than 130 of these artworks will be on display in the exhibition “This Present Moment: 

Crafting a Better World” from May 13 to April 23, 2023.

“For 50 years, SAAM’s Renwick Gallery has championed innovation in American craft,” said Stephanie Stebich, 

the Margaret and Terry Stent Director at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “As we take this opportunity 

to both look back and look ahead, these newly acquired artworks added through our 50th Anniversary 

Acquisitions Campaign define a bolder future that will help us better understand ourselves, each other, and 

the world around us.”

By bringing into the collection artworks by Bisa Butler, Sonya Clark, David Harper Clemons, Sharon KerryHarlan, Roberto Lugo, and Preston Singletary, among others, the museum is reexamining the landscape of 

American craft and highlighting stories of persistence, models of resilience and methods of activism that are 

relevant to audiences today. This acquisition campaign was led by Nora Atkinson, the Fleur and Charles Bresler 

Curator-in-Charge for the Renwick Gallery with Mary Savig, the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft; and Anya 

Montiel, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (formerly the museum’s 

curator of American and Native American women’s art and craft). The artworks acquired, both through gifts 

and museum purchase, represent a range of craft mediums, including fiber, ceramics, glass, metal, and wood. 

Curators worked closely with a volunteer Renwick Gallery 50th Anniversary Acquisitions Committee of more 

than 50 knowledgeable collectors, artists, and craft enthusiasts from across the United States. The committee 

was co-chaired by Myra J. Weiss, a member of the museum’s board of commissioners, and Carolyn Mazloomi, 

artist, curator, and scholar.

“When it comes to expanding the museum’s collection, our priority is to break barriers further,” says Atkinson. 

“At 50 years, we have an opportunity to look back at our history, see where we have succeeded and fallen 

short and recalibrate as we embark on the next 50 years. By including people of all genders, sexualities, 

ethnicities, and abilities in our collection and examining all forms of craft practice with genuine curiosity, we 

are building a national collection that showcases a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences.”