Smithsonian Affiliations

09/02/2026

Lowriding is a quintessential Latino/a tradition started by Mexican American communities in the 1940s to assert their space and empower their lives. This unique car-making tradition is infused with Latino/a soul, entrepreneurship, and ingenuity. A mix of innovation and tradition, lowriding is an affirmation of identity and values that have reached beyond the United States to influence popular culture worldwide.

Our “Lowrider Culture in the United States / Cultura Lowrider en los Estados Unidos” exhibition highlights a diverse selection of vibrant photographs and prints depicting lowrider culture and iconography while documenting its styles in the United States.

You can see it now our Smithsonian Affiliate, the International Museum of Art & Science!
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📷: Española, New Mexico, 2017, photo Gabriela E. Campos*

08/31/2026

Christopher Payne (American, born 1968) spent a decade photographing America’s factories. Some rely on handcraft and have remained proudly unchanged over decades; others offer a glimpse inside spaces where engineers and technicians work side-by-side with robots to push the limits of technology. With each image, Payne captures the essence of the work, ensuring that his images convey useful information about complex machines and recognize the grace and craftmanship of skilled makers.

Now open at Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service will begin traveling “Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne” on a national tour in fall 2026!

📷: American flags in production on a rotary screen printer, 2018. Annin Flagmakers (South Boston, Virginia). © Christopher Payne/Esto

08/25/2026

We remember Dolly Parton, singer, musician, songwriter, actor, philanthropist and businesswoman.

08/12/2026

08/10/2026

Happy 180th birthday Smithsonian! 🎁🎂🎉 We’re sharing this throwback “baby pic” of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations back in the day. Our former Director Dennis Gould was here in May of 1974 making a final check of crates for one of the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibitions!

08/06/2026

Lowriding is a quintessential Latino/a tradition started by Mexican American communities in the 1940s to assert their space and empower their lives. A mix of innovation and tradition, lowriding is an affirmation of identity and values that have reached beyond the United States to influence popular culture worldwide.

Our traveling exhibition “Lowrider Culture in the United States / Cultura Lowrider en los Estados Unidos” highlights a diverse selection of vibrant photographs and prints depicting lowrider culture and iconography while documenting its styles in the U.S!

See it at our Smithsonian Affiliate the International Museum of Art & Science starting August 15!



Image Credit: Lowrider including imagery related to the Day of the Dead. Courtesy of Bob Bernal Jr. Los Angeles, California, 2020.

08/05/2026

In this photo, GIs dance with young women in a nightclub in Osaka, Japan, 1946.

Following the end of WWII, nearly 45,000 Japanese women immigrated to America as wives of U.S. military servicemembers. These young women left their homes to build lives within the complexities of postwar American society. Their arrival marked the largest women-only immigration event in U.S. history and, by 1960, had increased the population of Asian Americans in the U.S. by 10%.

In contrast to other waves of immigrants, war brides were often isolated when they came to the U.S. They ended up in cities and towns, big and small, across America, often without familial, linguistic, or cultural support networks. Not all women lived happy lives or had intact marriages, but many carved out meaningful lives in their communities despite formidable challenges.

Our “Japanese War Brides: Across a Wide Divide,” exhibition explores the incredible stories and experiences of these women. Learn more: https://s.si.edu/4xpFLyY

“Japanese War Brides: Across a Wide Divide” is a collaboration between Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, the National Museum of American History, and War Bride Experience, Inc.

Image courtesy: US National Archives

07/31/2026

What does it mean to participate in a democracy? It’s a question as old as the nation itself, and it’s the beating heart of our “Voices and Votes: Exploring Democracy in America” exhibition. More details about this Curator Talk here: https://s.si.edu/3RD0Cj5

07/30/2026

Bring a little joy to your Thursday with these fun facts about narwhals—the “unicorns of the sea”!🦄🌊

You can explore more about these beloved and mysterious animals in our “Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend” traveling exhibition on view now at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (part of Smithsonian Affiliations)!

The exhibition dives deep into the narwhal’s Arctic world to explore what makes this mysterious animal so important to understanding our changing climate. It also offers insights into the relationship between narwhals and our changing global climate through the work of Arctic researchers and experience from members of the Inuit community. Find out what one of the sea’s most unusual-looking mammals tells us about the future of our oceans.



📷: Courtesy Glenn Williams, Narwhal Tusk Research

07/28/2026

From neighborhood sandlots to Major league stadiums: ¡Pleibol! explorers over a century of Latino baseball history through photos, oral histories, and artifacts. ⚾️

Now on display at the Charlotte Museum of History. Tickets and info available online at charlottemuseum.org!