Celebration Will Feature Discounts in Museum Store and Docent-led Tours
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art will join museums in North America in celebrating Art Museum Day Monday, May 18. The museum will participate with a guided tour of its latest exhibition “The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists” from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors to the museum store will receive a 10 percent discount from 1 to 3 p.m.
Attendees will be invited to share their images of their visit via Instagram and Twitter and on the National Museum of African Art’s Facebook page with the hashtag #ArtMuseumDay.
This is the sixth year that the Association of Art Museum Directors is uniting its membership to celebrate the event.
Exhibitions Currently on View at the National Museum of African Art
- “The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists,” through Nov. 2
- “Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Court of Benin, 1926–1989” through Sept. 24
- “Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby Jr.” through Jan. 24, 2016
- “The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection Highlights,” permanent
- “African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” ongoing
Summer Public Programming at the Museum
- Authors Talk With Simon Ottenberg, Author of Obayinka, A Woman’s View—June 2; 6:30–8 p.m.
- An AfroPolitan Experience—June 13; 12–5:30 p.m.
- Majmar Painting Workshop—July 15; 12–3 p.m.
- “Burning Desire To Be Touched” by Mwangi Hutter—July 18; 2–4 p.m.
About the National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is America’s first museum dedicated to the collection, conservation, study and exhibition of traditional and contemporary African art. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free. The museum is located at 950 Independence Ave. S.W., near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines. For more information, call (202) 633-4600 or visit the museum’s website at africa.si.edu. For general Smithsonian information, call (202) 633-1000.
About the Association of Art Museum Directors
AAMD member museums—located across the United States, Canada and Mexico—include regional museums and large international institutions. International Museum Day is organized annually around the world by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). AAMD’s Art Museum Day is an opportunity to focus attention on the role of art museums in North America as part of ICOM’s global celebration of museums.
A comprehensive list of participating AAMD member art museums will be available in the newsroom of AAMD’s website.
Information about the National Museum of African Art’s exhibitions and programs can be found on its website. For media requests, contact Eddie Burke, head of communications and public affairs at the National Museum of African Art, at (202) 633-4660 or burkee@si.edu.
