Art & Design

Explore Art & Design across the Smithsonian through stories, events, and exhibitions. Use the filters to browse by format, then bookmark events and exhibitions to keep track of what you want to visit or attend.

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Art & Design
Split image of a young boy on the bottom looking over the horizon and fragments of a statue of the Hindu god Vishnu on top
Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean
At the dawn of time, the Hindu god Vishnu slept on a coiled serpent floating in the primordial ocean. There, he dreamed the universe into existence. This magnificent story of creation comes to life through the largest bronze ever cast in . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
National Museum of Asian Art
Location
National Museum of Asian Art
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Exhibitions
Dalí's painting for Bacchanale
You Can Buy Salvador Dalí’s Largest Painting, a 100-Foot-Long Artwork Made for a Ballet in 1939
The Surrealist artist created the massive piece for a production called “Bacchanale.” It’s expected to fetch up to $348,000 at auction
Smithsonian Magazine
Article
The Last Judgment is located behind the Sistine Chapel's altar.
The Sweat of Tourists Has Covered Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Fresco in a White Film. Now, the ‘Last Judgment’ Is Getting a Much-Needed Cleaning
Patches of calcium lactate have dulled the colors of the famous 16th-century mural, which hasn’t been cleaned since 1994. Experts will carefully restore the artwork to its former glory
Smithsonian Magazine
Article
Related to:
Art & Design
Culture & Community
Art & Design
This short film featured in the exhibition, "Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe" provides insight into the artist, his inspirations and his art.
National Museum of the American Indian
Video

Water's Edge: The Art Of Truman Lowe

Join Michael Maltzan, 2025 National Design Award winner in Architecture, and Florian Idenburg, co-founder of Brooklyn-based architecture firm SO-IL, for a discussion on urban housing in Los Angeles and New York. Despite the cities’ distinct . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Video

A Conversation on Urban Housing with 2025 NDA Winner Michael Maltzan and Architect Florian Idenburg

Join Michael Maltzan, 2025 National Design Award winner in Architecture, and Florian Idenburg, co-founder of Brooklyn-based architecture firm SO-IL, for a discussion on urban housing in Los Angeles and New York. Despite the cities’ distinct housing landscapes, both Maltzan and Idenburg employ imaginative, experimental, and persistent strategies to expand architectural possibilities through projects ranging from private residences to supportive, social, and affordable housing. This conversation will explore their bi-coastal work during a critical moment for urban housing in the United States.

In Part 1, dive into the world of contemporary speaker design with fast-paced presentations by New York’s rising audio innovators—Deborah Garcia, Mo Yasin, and Zoë Mowat and Dave Shaw of Waves and Frequencies. Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Video

An Afternoon on Sound & Music Design Part 1

In Part 1, dive into the world of contemporary speaker design with fast-paced presentations by New York’s rising audio innovators—Deborah Garcia, Mo Yasin, and Zoë Mowat and Dave Shaw of Waves and Frequencies. Learn about their strategies for spatial activation, home audio enhancement, and live event sound system set ups.

Then, for Part 2 (   • An Afternoon on Sound & Music Design Part 2  ), enjoy a dynamic conversation where writer and curator Vince Aletti speaks with DJ partners and publishers Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele of Love Injection. Together with moderator Matthew Higgs, they’ll unpack the visual language of album covers, posters and flyers. Discover how music’s graphic design including typography, color, and production techniques help shape memories and history. Expect a lively show-and-tell as Aletti and Love Injection share stories and rare examples from their experiences documenting, collecting, and distributing this cultural ephemera.

Learn more about the Art of Noise exhibition https://www.cooperhewitt.org/channel/....

For Part 2, enjoy a dynamic conversation where writer and curator Vince Aletti speaks with DJ partners and publishers Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele of Love Injection.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Video

An Afternoon on Sound & Music Design Part 2

In Part 1 (   • An Afternoon on Sound & Music Design Part 1  ), dive into the world of contemporary speaker design with fast-paced presentations by New York’s rising audio innovators—Deborah Garcia, Mo Yasin, and Zoë Mowat and Dave Shaw of Waves and Frequencies. Learn about their strategies for spatial activation, home audio enhancement, and live event sound system set ups.

For Part 2, enjoy a dynamic conversation where writer and curator Vince Aletti speaks with DJ partners and publishers Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele of Love Injection. Together with moderator Matthew Higgs, they’ll unpack the visual language of album covers, posters and flyers. Discover how music’s graphic design including typography, color, and production techniques help shape memories and history. Expect a lively show-and-tell as Aletti and Love Injection share stories and rare examples from their experiences documenting, collecting, and distributing this cultural ephemera.

Learn more about the Art of Noise exhibition https://www.cooperhewitt.org/channel/....

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Video

Art of Noise—A Conversation with Curator Joseph Becker and Filmmaker Gary Hustwit

From concert posters to record albums, phonographs to digital music players, handheld radios to sound systems, Art of Noise takes visitors on an exploration of how design has transformed our relationship to music over the past 100 years. Join us to learn more about this groundbreaking exhibition with a special introductory conversation with Joseph Becker, curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Gary Hustwit, a documentary filmmaker known for his work addressing design and music.

Becker and Hustwit will reveal insights into the history and making of the exhibition, which travels to Cooper Hewitt from SFMOMA. At Cooper Hewitt, Art of Noise will feature more than 300 objects drawn largely from the collections of Cooper Hewitt and SFMOMA, as well as unique sound environments designed by Stockholm-based studio teenage engineering and multi-disciplinary artist Devon Turnbull.