Smithsonian American Art Museum
The District’s museums offer a lineup of exhibits and cultural experiences throughout the fall.
Arts and culture reign each fall in Washington, DC, as both theaters and museums debut new attractions. Below, we’ve gathered some of the most intriguing exhibits and displays to be found at DC’s museums throughout the season. Don't forget: many of DC's museums can be visited for free.
Much Here Is Beautiful: Photography Surveys of the U.S. Bicentennial – Sept. 18 – April 18, 2027
From the California coast to the Kansas heartland to the streets of New York City, the photographs in this exhibit (which takes its name from Robert Hayden’s poem “American Journal”) offer an expansive and evocative portrait of America in the 1970s and early 1980s. Explore selected images from photography surveys that document people and places in the United States from the 19th century to the years before and after the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976.
11:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. | Free Admission
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 8th and G Streets NW, Washington, DC 20004
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California – Sept. 18 – Jan. 17, 2027
The National Museum of Women in the Arts' new exhibit traces the flow and flourishing of quilts in the context of the Second Great Migration, a mass movement of approximately five million African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North and West between 1940 and 1970 in search of a more equitable life. Many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrived in California carried quilts for warmth and protection, as containers for ancestral memory and as emblems of cultural survival. America itself has always been a quilt of many cultures; come celebrate the art form in the country’s 250th year.
Hours & Admission
National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
Carlotta Corpron: Light Is a Plastic Medium – Oct. 16 – March 14, 2027
Step into the light. This exhibit at the Hirshhorn surveys work by the American abstract photographer and educator Carlotta Corpron whose investigations into the poetics of light and form and innovative use of technology supported the establishment of photography as fine art. Explore six bodies of work from Corpron’s career in Texas from the late 1930s to the early 1950s.
DC artist Rik Freeman’s work is showcased in-depth at this free exhibition displayed at Phillips@THEARC. For more than three decades, Freeman has engaged history, community, resilience and joy in his work. Wade in the Waters zooms in on waterways – from the beaches of Bahia to the Anacostia River – and how they connect to the diaspora over generations.
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Free Admission
Hirshhorn Museum, Independence Avenue & 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20560
Folger Shakespeare Library
To Hear Her Speak: Black Women and Shakespeare – Oct. 16 – May 2, 2027
For centuries, Black women have claimed Shakespeare, reshaping his words to assert their humanity, creativity and power. To Hear Her Speak brings these voices into focus for the first time. Curated by Dr. Patricia Akhimie, Director of the Folger Institute, this landmark exhibition of nearly 100 objects highlights the ways in which Black women have engaged Shakespeare in performance and in writing and art. “Summer’s lease hath all too short a date,” but when fall rolls around, don’t miss this powerful exhibit.
Hours | Free Admission
Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
The Phillips Collection
Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea – Oct. 24 – Jan. 24, 2027
For three months this fall and winter, you can savor a lovely moment of summer. This exhibition will tell the story of the lifelong friendship between three towering figures in American art: Milton Avery (1885–1965), Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974) and Mark Rothko (1903–1970). Approximately 90 works of art will highlight the inspiration they derived from summers in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on Cape Ann, and from each other. Many have never been on public view.
Hours & Admission
The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
National Air and Space Museum
At Home in Space – Opens Oct. 30
Discover the challenges and benefits of a permanent human presence in low Earth orbit. The knowledge gained from the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs informs where we go next and what we do there. If you’ve ever wondered how it might be possible that humans live and work in space, this immersive, highly interactive exhibit is for you. Space out and explore it during the Museum’s 50th anniversary year.
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Free Admission | Reserve Timed Passes
National Air and Space Museum, 650 Jefferson Drive SW, Washington, DC 20560
Archives of American Art
Materials, Methods and Meanings: Craft in the Archives of American Art – Nov. 6 – April 16, 2027
Art made from traditionally working material carries a special kind of meaning. Come and think about what it means to be a maker, a craftsman and an artist as you examine works across clay, fiber, glass, metal and wood (among others) that push beyond tradition and expand the possibilities of how we engage with the world around us.
11:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. | Free Admission
Archives of American Art, 750 9th Street NW, Victor Building, Suite 2200, Washington, DC 20001
National Air and Space Museum
Modern Military Aviation – Opens Nov. 11
The advent of nuclear weapons and rapid advances in aviation technologies, such as missiles and automation, shaped by hot and cold wars, have in turn shaped the nature of conflict and diplomacy. These monumental developments in aerospace technologies are on display in the new Modern Military Aviation gallery. The exhibition is anchored by the museum’s unparalleled collection of military aviation artifacts including the North American F-86 Sabre, the Bell UH-1H “Huey” and the General Atomics MQ-1L Predator.
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Free Admission | Reserve Timed Passes
National Air and Space Museum, 650 Jefferson Drive SW, Washington, DC 20560
Renwick Gallery
Handwork: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery – Opens Nov. 13
This installation of objects from Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection showcases the practice of making things by hand. Its presentation is part of a program at the Renwick Gallery to investigate the meaning and relevance of craft in American culture. In a year that DC has dedicated to exploring what the humans of this country make, and, therefore, what makes this country human, take time to treasure this most connected and connecting medium.
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Free Admission
Renwick Gallery, Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20006
National Portrait Gallery
Photographic Memory: Fifty Years of Collecting at the National Portrait Gallery – Nov. 14 – Nov. 7, 2027
In 2026, the National Portrait Gallery will observe the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of its photographs collection, which now accounts for nearly half of the museum’s total holdings. Encompassing more than one hundred works, from the Daguerreian era to our own digital age, this exhibition explores the evolution of photographic portraiture through treasures from the Portrait Gallery’s wide-ranging collection. Capturing time in its unique way, photography has allowed the museum’s collection to include likenesses of those who have shaped the nation’s history but never posed for painted or sculpted portraits.
11:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. | Free Admission
National Portrait Gallery, 8th and G Streets NW, Washington, DC 20004
National Museum of Asian Art
Adorned in Gold: Japanese Lacquer from the Jacqueline Avant Collection – Nov. 21 – Jan. 2, 2028
Gold powder falls gently onto wet lacquer, shimmering. There, it transforms into plants, birds and even scenes from stories. This Japanese art form is called maki-e (literally, “sprinkled picture”). Artists have used this method since the tenth century to turn everyday objects into luxuries. Adorned in Gold explores how maki-e intertwined with Japanese fashion, literature and identity during the Edo period (1603–1868). Part of America 250 exhibits in celebration of prominent American collectors, highlighting art’s power to bridge time and culture.
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. | Free Admission
National Museum of Asian Art, 1050 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20560
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