Visit the National Portrait Gallery Online - Digital Exhibitions, Facebook Story time and art workshops, Podcasts and more

Spring Programs for Kids and Families

 

A Message from our Director

As the nation’s only museum dedicated to American portraiture, we want to meet you where you are…online! Even though our building is temporarily closed, we invite you to join us digitally to learn about the people who have shaped — and are continuing to change — our nation’s history.

Join us for online tours of our galleries and exhibitions, listen to stories about remarkable individuals on our podcast, and discover our open access collection. Some offerings are also available in ASL and Spanish, and activities for those parent-teachers schooling at home will be added online. Traditional lesson plans for teachers and classroom materials are also currently available on our website.

We hope you will stay tuned this month as we launch story-time sessions, art-making workshops, and more throughout our website and social media channels in the coming weeks.

Thank you for being part of the National Portrait Gallery community.

- Kim Sajet, Director

 

Digital Workshops

Open Studios
Fridays, 11:00 a.m.
Facebook @smithsoniannpg

Join the Portrait Gallery on Facebook each Friday for open studio sessions with artist Jill Galloway. Discover your inner artist and create an original artwork inspired by the Portrait Gallery’s collection while exploring a different technique or tool each week.

 

Story Time
Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m.
Facebook @smithsoniannpg

Tune in on Facebook for story time with a Portrait Gallery educator. Select sessions will be offered in Spanish. Recommended for ages 3 and up.

 

Podcast

PORTRAITS is back with a brand new season highlighting real stories from real people with ties to artworks in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. A teaser for season two hits March 24. In the meantime, catch up on the full first season of PORTRAITS on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, PRX, Radio Public, Spotify, Stitcher, and on our website. Past episodes feature Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie G. Bunch III, first-prize winner of the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Hugo Crosthwaite, and the Portrait Gallery’s Senior Curator of Photographs Ann Shumard.

 

Online Exhibitions via Google Arts & Culture

Missed it in person? Enjoy online adaptations of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions and collection highlights through our collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, including several exhibitions timed with Women’s History Month.

Eye to I: Self-Portraits from 1900 to Today
Drawing from the National Portrait Gallery’s vast collection of self-portraits, this exhibition explores and thinks critically about how American artists have chosen to portray themselves over the past century. This online exhibition highlights a selection of objects featured in both the Portrait Gallery’s presentation in Washington, D.C., and in the traveling adaptation. 
 
One Life: Dolores Huerta 
Explore the life and legacy of Latina activist Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the farm workers' movement of the 1960s and 1970s with César Chávez.   
 
First Ladies 
This online exhibition features portraits of the First Ladies of the United States from the Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. 
 
Votes for Women
Missed it in person? This abridged virtual tour of the Portrait Gallery’s acclaimed exhibition, "Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence," delves into the history of women’s suffrage as the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment approaches. 
 
Up Close with George Washington
Our latest Google exhibition dives deep into the story behind Gilbert Stuart’s "Lansdowne Portrait" of George Washington. Visitors are able to zoom in on this iconic image and explore the story behind its creation in 1796. Want more on the presidents? See below for the museum’s SmARTify tour of "America’s Presidents."
 
The Outwin 2019
Take a virtual tour of the museum’s exhibition "The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today," which features 46 portraits – including time-based media works – by finalists of the Portrait Gallery’s 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.  

Portraits of African Americans
Discover portraits of African Americans featured in the Portrait Gallery's collection and learn how their achievements have contributed to the history and development of our nation.

The Struggle for Justice
In one of multiple views of the museum's galleries available on Google, view portraits of activists and social justice leaders from the Portrait Gallery's collection.

 

Cast Your Vote for the People's Choice Award

Who's your favorite? Explore "The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today" on the Portrait Gallery’s dedicated website (portraitcompetition.si.edu) or through the museum’s Google Arts & Culture page and cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award. Vote now through April 24!!! More than 17,000 visitors have already cast their votes!

 

Tour America's Presidents on smARTify

SmARTify is a free and easy-to-use art app that allows you to explore more than 1,000 artworks from the Portrait Gallery’s collection from the convenience of their own home. Download the app and explore the stories behind the objects and the artists in our collection. There's even a virtual tour of the museum’s acclaimed "America’s Presidents" gallery. Available in English and Spanish. Try it out in our galleries!

 

ASL Tours

Enjoy ASL tours of exhibitions including "One Life: Marian Anderson," which celebrates the life and legacy of the acclaimed vocalist and civil rights activist. Check them out on the Portrait Gallery's YouTube channel.