Doctor of Fine Arts

SAAM 2-9-08

I had some free time today, and decided to make the most of it and take a quick jaunt into the district. I went to one of my favorite museums, the combined Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.

They've completed the courtyard renovations since the last time I visited. It is a great public space - comfortable, lots of activity without being overly crowded. The two signature elements are the undulating glass canopy and the shallow pools. The pools are merely sheets of water, and are constantly in motion - pumped in on one end, flowing down a barely perceptible slope into a drain. Since it is barely a puddle, kids run through them constantly. It livens the place up quite a bit.

The entire museum has good exhibits, but the most popular single work today was the recently installed portrait (or is it portraits?) of Stephen Colbert. It is just outside the Hall of Presidents... in the antechamber of the restrooms. There's a photo in the album linked above. I walked by a few times, and there were never less than a dozen people crowding around for photos.