Posts By Jeff Gates

Let the GameFest Begin!

The Art of Video Games opened yesterday and as part of our opening festivities GameFest is well underway this weekend. We will be posting images throughout the day. There are a number of game consoles available for play in our Kogod Courtyard. This man is trying his hand at Space Channel 5. First released inRead… Read more »

GameFest Highlight: King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Alli Jessing, Joint Programs Coordinator for the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, gives us a peek at our upcoming screening of Seth Gordon’s documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters showing this Saturday, March 17 at 7 p.m. in American Art’s Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium as part of our GameFestRead… Read more »

Q and Art: Folk Art

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: “Q and Art” and is the successor to our series “The Best of Ask Joan of Art.” Begun in 1993, Ask Joan of Art was the longest-running arts-based electronic reference service in the country. We retired the service late last year but want toRead… Read more »

Picture This: Conservation Lab Examines Community’s Art

Conservator Helen Ingalls examines a Louise Nevelson sculpture. American Art holds monthly conservation clinics in its Lunder Conservation Center, during which conservators evaluate the condition of and provide care recommendations for visitor-owned artworks. In January, objects conservators Helen Ingalls and Hugh Shockey examined several sculptures, objects d’art, and decorative art pieces owned by members ofRead… Read more »

In This Case: Frame of Reference

Frames displayed in the Luce Foundation Center What’s in a frame? More than a painting, as I discovered after talking to Martin Kotler, frames conservator for the American Art Museum. While standing in front of the newly-installed frames case in the Luce Foundation Center, Martin explained that frames can be hand-carved, cast using additive material,Read… Read more »

Behind the Scenes: The Moving of a Sculpture

John Scott’s Thornbush Blues Totem Thornbush Blues Totem by John Scott will be featured in our upcoming exhibition, African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond. In preparation, museum conservators and art handlers moved the eight-foot tall sculpture up to the conservation labs for examination and treatment. Staffer Mary Tait described the experience:Read… Read more »

“Getting my art on . . .” at Luce

Kristina Bilonick demonstrates how to silkscreen at a recent Luce Artist Talk. “Getting my art on . . .” That’s what one visitor said she liked to do when she comes to American Art’s Luce Foundation Center. On Sunday, January 29, she was in the right place. Local artist Kristina Bilonick shared her work asRead… Read more »