U.S. Department of the Interior Museum

06/30/2024

On this final day of , we're sharing some of the forts of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the 1600s and 1700s, massive masonry fortifications were constructed to help protect the Spanish Empire's colonial interests on the island and across the Caribbean.

The aerial views and architectural details shown here are by artist Erick Pérez and include the Pórtico y Puente San Felipe del Morro, Fuerte del Espigón Fort, Puerta de San Juan, and Revellín de la Perla (OSAC 07189). Pérez also produced drawings in support of the National Park Service's Heritage Documentation Programs conducted at San Juan National Historic Site. These framed works were presented to the Department of the Interior during Secretary Sally Jewell's first official visit to Puerto Rico in 2016.

06/29/2024

Happy Caribbean American Heritage Month! Because of the U.S. Department of the Interior's historical and ongoing role with U.S. territories and insular areas--via our Office of Insular Affairs--our museum's collection contains many objects related to Caribbean heritage, including this mural-sized, 1940s hand-tinted photograph of Trunk Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This scene now lies within the boundaries of Virgin Islands National Park, established in 1956 and beloved for its white sand, crystal clear water, and Underwater Snorkel Trail. The bay gets its name from leatherback sea turtles, known locally as "trunks."

📷 “Trunk Bay, Virgin Islands,” hand-tinted photographic print by an unknown photographer and colorist, circa 1945. (OSAC 07474)

06/23/2024

🦋 We're closing out with this monarch butterfly perched atop a purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), a widespread North American perennial that's attractive to pollinators.

This signed, fine art photographic print in our collection is by Jim Hudgins whose career spanned more than three decades with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prior to his retirement in 2018.

📷 OSAC 07203

06/19/2024

06/17/2024

On this date in 1902, the U.S. Department of the Interior gained a new mission area. Happy 122nd birthday to our colleagues in the Bureau of Reclamation!

06/10/2024

Happy 152nd birthday to the National Fish Hatchery System, founded in 1872 primarily to raise fish for food but now having an expanded conservation portfolio across 71 hatcheries! � From our collection is this circa 1920 painting by Claire Fivaz of the Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery, established in 1899 to propagate warmwater species.

�OSAC 02692

05/31/2024

Close out May and by practicing a little self-care with "Mindfulness with Moran." Let nature and art improve your outlook with this guided meditation, based upon our 1872 "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" painting by Thomas Moran:

Experience Thomas Moran’s famous 1872 painting, "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone," in a new way. Join certified yoga therapist Eve Fleishman in a multise...

05/30/2024

Collections Highlight:

David Halpern has participated 13 times in National Park Service Artist-in-Residence programs and has drawn upon those experiences to establish two residencies at park sites in his adopted home state of New Mexico. His career includes 17 years in advertising and 27 years as a commercial photographer. A much-sought instructor and prolific author, Halpern is a life member of the American Society of Media Photographers.

For this piece, Halpern trained his camera and photographic expertise on what is widely regarded as one of the most scenic shorelines in the world. The Nā Pali Coast stretches 16 miles from Polihale Beach to Kēʻē Beach on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. "Nā Pali" means "cliffs" in Native Hawaiian.

� “The NaPali Coast of Kauai, 1989,” pigment ink print on Red River Palo Duro Baryta Fiber Paper, © David Halpern, 1989. Gift of the artist, 2023. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07454.

05/29/2024

Collections Highlight:

While Su’a Uilisone Tupuola Fitiao is perhaps best known as a traditional Samoan tattoo master (Tufuga ta Tatau), he is also a skilled siapo artist, incorporating patterns from Tatau into his work, as shown in this piece. Resembling a large cloth, siapo mamanu is actually hand crafted from the inner bark of a paper mulberry tree (u’a) and expertly decorated freehand using plant-based dyes:

🟫Brown dye = o’a, made from the bark of the Blood Tree
⬛Black dye = lama, created by mixing o’a with soot from a burnt candlenut kernel
🟥Red dye = loa, achieved by mixing o’a with the seeds from a Lipstick Tree

📷 Siapo mamanu by Su’a Uilisone Tupuola Fitiao, 2023-2024. Museum purchase, 2024. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07475.

05/29/2024

Wishing a happy 90th birthday to our colleagues in the Office of Insular Affairs. Over the years, we've enjoyed working with you to share your history and that of the U.S. territories and freely associated states. 🇦🇸🇬🇺🇲🇵🇻🇮🇺🇸🇫🇲🇲🇭🇵🇼

Happy birthday to the Office of Insular Affairs!

For 90 years, the dedicated employees in the Office of Insular Affairs have been building relationships, coordinating policy and honoring the unique histories and cultures of the U.S. territories and freely associated states.

Photo by Virgin Islands National Park

05/28/2024

Collections Highlight:

Renowned photojournalist and documentarian Manny Crisostomo grew up in Sinajana, Guam, but he left the island to pursue his degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Although his career has since taken him around the world and earned him the highest of accolades, he has remained an advocate and chronicler of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific, including CHamorus living in the Marianas and in the diaspora.

Maintained by the historic Inalahan Foundation, Gef Pa’go is a cultural attraction in Guam’s coastal town of Inarajan. In a village-like setting, visitors can learn the history of the island’s first people, witness demonstrations of traditional arts and crafts, and experience the “Chamorro spirit” by participating in a variety of hands-on activities. The ceremonial dance captured by Crisostomo in this photograph titled, “Gef Pa’go, Inalahan,” is one of many ways in which local culture is preserved and passed down to younger generations.

� "Gef Pa'go" © Manny Crisostomo Creative. Fine art photograph on Rag Baryta paper. Museum purchase, 2023. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07469.

05/27/2024

Collections Highlight:

Hawai‘i National Park was established in 1916—just weeks prior to the formation of the National Park Service and long before Hawai‘i statehood in 1959. The park originally featured two sections: volcanic landscapes on the islands of both Maui and Hawai‘i. In 1961, however, the park split into Haleakalā National Park and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, respectively.

This 2015 serigraph's summit-to-sea perspective features 10 colors, and artistic collaborators Doug Leen and Brian Maebius consider it one of the most complex in their park series. The design incorporates several iconic elements: the spectacular sunrise which visitors flock to witness; silverswords, a high-altitude shrub that grows only in Hawai‘i and blooms just once before dying; and the Observatory Station, one of several improvement projects undertaken at the park by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid 1930s. Because of the elevation and clear skies, the University of Hawai‘i's modern-day astrophysical complex at the summit of Haleakalā is among the best places to observe the night sky.

� 2015 Haleakalā serigraph, gift of Doug Leen, 2016. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07183.

05/26/2024

Collections Highlight:

A career photojournalist, multimedia editor, educator, and author, Manny Crisostomo is Guam’s first—and, to date, only—Pulitzer Prize winner. He was honored in 1989 for his feature photography done for the Detroit Free Press.

This photograph is entitled, “CHamoru Kulo’” and depicts a man in Guam signaling on a triton shell, known as a kulo’. For generations, the kulo’ has been used as a call for assembly: in battle, in ceremony, or the arrival of ocean canoes. In addition to being in the Interior Museum’s collection, this image appears in Crisostomo’s retrospective book, “Wayfinding: My Personal Pasifika,” a self-described “love letter to my CHamoru-ness, my Pacific Islander-ness, my global human-ness.”

� "CHamoru Kulo'"© Manny Crisostomo Creative. Fine art photograph on Rag Baryta paper. Museum purchase, 2023. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07466.

05/25/2024

Collections Highlight:

This 1996 acrylic on canvas painting by Palauan artist Hans Ongelungel was presented as an official gift by the Republic of Palau's first ambassador to the United States, the Honorable Hersey Kyota, during an event at the Interior Museum in 1997. The artwork showcases important elements of Palau, both underwater and on land. Sea turtles, sharks, coral, and an array of Pacific reef fish inhabit the ocean scene, while above is a traditional bai and a visual interpretation of the famous Palauan legend of the fish-bearing breadfruit tree of Ngibtal.

� Breadfruit Tree Legend panting by Hans Ongelungel (b. 1956), acrylic on canvas, 1996. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 07399.

05/24/2024

Collections Highlight:

Ian Kuali‘i honors his Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) and Mescalero Apache ancestry in his work as a self-taught, multi-disciplinary artist. Influenced by hip hop and his experiences as a graffiti artist, Kuali‘i is widely known both for his public art installations and for his intricate hand-cut paper compositions like this one. Using only an X-Acto blade and a single sheet of paper, Kuali‘i blends bold, traditional patterns with delicate linework in what he describes as “a meditative process of destroying to create.”

Here, he has rendered a portrait of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole (1871–1922), heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i and prince of the House of Kalākaua. There are strong linkages—past and present—between Prince Kūhiō and the work of the U.S. Department of the Interior. For the benefit of the Hawaiian People, Prince Kūhiō conceived of the Kahikinui Hawaiian Homestead Association through the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, setting aside land for Native Hawaiian homesteaders. Additionally, while serving as Hawai‘i’s non-voting territorial delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives (1902–1921), he introduced legislation in 1916 to create Hawai‘i National Park and in 1919 presented the first bill proposing Hawai‘i statehood. In Hawai‘i, March 26 is celebrated as Prince Kūhiō Day, honoring his birthday and legacy.

� "Ke Ali'i Maka'āinana (The Prince of the People): Portrait of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole" by Ian Kualiʻi, hand cut paper with painted verso, 2023. Gift of the artist, in association with the National Parks Arts Foundation, 2024. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07476.

05/23/2024

Collections Highlight:

Master Palauan carver Bernardino Rdulaol created this wooden storyboard in 1972. It bears his signature style of low relief with ink tints applied for emphasizing elements of the design. Rdulaol is credited with influencing the storyboard tradition and mentoring others.

The scene depicts the parable of the “Breadfruit Tree of Ngibtal,” among the most well-known of Palauan legends. Although multiple versions of the story exist, at its core is a special breadfruit tree from which fish magically flow: a source of plenty but also a source of jealousy and strife.

📷 Gift to the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, 2024 (OSAC 07479).

05/22/2024

Collections Highlight:

Between 1979 and 1989, the National Park Service commissioned artist Charley Harper (1922-2007) to create ten designs showcasing the diversity of flora and fauna of National Park Service lands. This piece issued in 1986 as a print represents Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Founded in 1916 and subsequently recognized as a UNESCO World Biosphere site in 1987, the park is home to 333,000 acres of diverse terrain and some of the world's most active volcanoes.

Shown here is a kīpuka, an oasis of vegetation encircled by young lava flows. It can support a surprising array of life in an otherwise harsh environment. Harper depicts more than 27 species here, including silverswords and a nene. How many can you find?

📷U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07407

05/21/2024

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, celebrating the powerful contributions and cultures that AANHPI communities bring to our shared American story. Over the coming days, follow along as we highlight related objects in our collection.

05/18/2024

On this Armed Forces Day, we are honored to once again be joining more than 2,000 museums nationwide as part of the initiative with the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families offering free admission to active-duty military personnel and their families, now through Labor Day.

While we continue to offer free admission to all visitors, we are especially excited for this opportunity to welcome military families at our exhibitions and on our building tours throughout the summer. Thank you for your service! Learn more: https://www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums

05/17/2024

Sharing from our colleagues at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a special sing-along to help you make the most of this Endangered Species Day!

05/10/2024

Happy American Wetlands Month!

Not only are these highly productive and biologically diverse systems beautiful, but they also recharge groundwater, reduce flooding, supply clean drinking water, support wildlife and provide incredible recreational opportunities.

Photo by Adam Jewell

05/03/2024

Happy National Space Day! ‍‍🚀 Listen as astronaut Megan McArthur reflects on our renowned 1874 painting of the Grand Canyon by Thomas Moran, “Chasm of the Colorado," which just so happens to be celebrating its 150th anniversary this week! Along the way, McArthur discusses the importance of preserving natural spaces and shares her own collection of amazing park photos taken from high above Earth:

https://ow.ly/Jnn250RvWbj

04/30/2024

🎨 Update:
150 years ago—a Thursday evening—artist Thomas Moran debuts his “Chasm of the Colorado” masterpiece for a group of invited guests. The venue is Upper Library Hall, a spacious assembly room at the rear of the Newark Library Association building, then located at 147 Market Street—only about 1.5 miles from Moran's own home in Newark, New Jersey. For two days following the private reception, local members of the public get their first glimpse of Moran's take on the Grand Canyon.

You can view the very same painting that caused all the buzz in 1874 by visiting the Interior Museum and our "Thomas Moran and the 'Big Picture'" exhibition; see https://www.doi.gov/interiormuseum/thomas-moran-big-picture

04/28/2024

Thanks for following along! We're closing out our park art challenge with the inspirational vista on this fine art quilt. Can you guess where this is? Hint: the only public road through this 200,000-acre national park is a 105-mile scenic drive along a ridge of mountains. Scroll to discover:
Shenandoah National Park in Virginia
🎨“Sunrise Shenandoah” by Nancy Hershberger, 2021, fine art quilt with hand-dyed and commercial cotton fabrics machine-quilted to silk batting and a cotton backing and hand-painted with acrylics, oils, and Tsukineko inks. Gift of the artist, 2021. (OSAC 07382)

04/27/2024

Our park art challenge goes to the beach...but where? Hint: this bay is now within the boundaries of a national park established in 1956 and known worldwide for its white sand, crystal clear water, and Underwater Snorkel Trail. Scroll to discover:
Virgin Islands National Park
🎨 “Trunk Bay, Virgin Islands,” hand-tinted photographic print by an unknown photographer and colorist, circa 1945. (OSAC 07474)

04/26/2024

Heading into the weekend with more of our park art challenge . . . guess where! Hint: this national historical park explores how a law enacted in 1862 transformed the landscape and impacted a diverse nation. Scroll to discover:

Homestead National Historical Park in Nebraska
🎨 “Homestead 1862-2020” by Nancy Lehenbauer Marshall, 2020, oil on canvas. Gift of the artist, 2020. (OSAC 07355)

04/25/2024

Another installment in our park art challenge! Think you know where this is? Hint: the river at this national park has carved a 48-mile gorge nearly 2,000 feet deep through some of the hardest, oldest rocks in North America. Scroll to discover:
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado
📷 "Long View, 1993" by David Halpern (b. 1936). Pigment ink print on EPSON Exhibition Fiber Paper, © David Halpern, 1993. Gift of the artist, 2023. U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, OSAC 07438.

04/25/2024

is underway with the theme of "Inspire 2 Aspire!" Kids at the Udall Building in Washington, DC, today have lots of ways to learn about the U.S. Department of the Interior, and kids can also catch live virtual activities from 10AM to 3PM ET at https://www.doi.gov/pmb/hr/kids-to-work-day.

📷 Kickoff in the Yates Auditorium.
📷 Preparations for the Interior Museum's "Bison Scavenger Hunt" to find bison in artwork and architectural details throughout the building.
📷 Puddles, the blue goose mascot for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pays a special visit to the Interior Museum.

04/24/2024

We’re back with our next park art challenge! Do you know where this is? Hint: geological features and the work of erosion are on full display at this site designated a national park in 1919 and located on ancestral homeland of 11 Associated Tribes. Scroll to discover:
Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
🎨 “Grand Canyon II" 2 of 10, by Kathleen M. Spagnolo (1919-2016), 1970, etching with multilevel viscosity on printing on paper (OSAC 00152)

04/23/2024

Can you guess the location of today’s park art challenge? Hint: the park preserves this type of plant, which only thrives in this desert landscape, grows up to 50 feet tall, and lives for more than 150 years. Scroll to discover:
Saguaro National Park in Arizona
📷 “Saguaro Cactus Flowers" © Pat O’Hara, 1989, photographic print (OSAC 02761)