National Portrait Gallery Meets Visitors Where They Are With Online Exhibitions, “PORTRAITS” Podcast and Digital Programs

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced it is offering free digital online exhibitions and programs in response to the Smithsonian Institution’s temporary closure due to the COVID-19 virus.

“As the nation’s only museum dedicated to American portraiture, we always aim to meet our visitors where they are,” said Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery. “Today, that happens to be online.” Responding to the museum’s temporary closure over the weekend, Sajet said that “audiences across the country—around the globe, in fact—can learn about the people who have shaped, and are continuing to change, our nation’s history and culture by viewing our online exhibitions and partaking in workshops and activities we are customizing for our online platforms.”

The Portrait Gallery’s website (npg.si.edu) provides visitors with the opportunity to listen to stories about some of the country’s most remarkable individuals—from the past as well as the present. “Some offerings are also in ASL and Spanish, and, of course, lesson plans are available for parents who are filling in as teachers at home,” Sajet said. She also stated that the museum will soon launch story-time sessions, art-making workshops and educational lesson plans through its website and social media channels.

Starting this week, visitors can tune in Fridays at 11 a.m. for Open Studio lessons with Jill Galloway, an artist in the Washington, D.C., area, on the museum’s Facebook page. Storytime for children ages 3 and up and their parents will be livestreamed from the Portrait Gallery’s Facebook feed Wednesdays at 11 a.m. Parents will also be able to download activities for children ages 3 and up on the museum’s social media channels in the coming weeks. Lesson plans related to the museum’s collection for teachers and corresponding classroom tools can be found on the museum’s website at npg.si.edu/teachers/classroom-resources.

All Portrait Gallery enthusiasts can currently view eight online exhibitions offered in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. Three of these digital presentations, timed with Women’s History Month, are “One Life: Dolores Huerta,” “First Ladies” and “Votes for Women.” Visitors can also experience “Eye to I: Self-Portraits from 1900 to Today,” a major exhibition that was presented at the museum in 2019. Furthermore, Facebook tours geared toward the ASL community are available for past and present exhibitions, such as “One Life: Marian Anderson.” Portrait Gallery programs on social media can be found @smithsoniannpg.

The Portrait Gallery also offers a complete look at the artworks that are included in the exhibition “The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today,” through a dedicated website page, portraitcompetition.si.edu. The site includes a poll for online visitors to vote for their favorite artwork in the exhibition. The winner, who will be announced after the poll closes April 24, will receive the People’s Choice Award. Since the exhibition opened last fall, more than 17,000 votes have been cast (in-person and online).

Remote visitors can also listen to the museum’s “PORTRAITS” podcast interview with the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition’s first-prize winner, Hugo Crosthwaite, while viewing his winning work, “A Portrait of Berenice Sarmiento Chávez.”

Season two of the “PORTRAITS” podcast hosted by Sajet will premiere with a teaser March 24. Past and future episodes are available for download at npg.si.edu/podcasts or through Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and most podcast platforms.

Finally, visitors can explore more than 1,000 artworks from the museum’s collection and create a portfolio of their favorite portraits through the free app, SMARTIFY. The app provides myriad ways to experience portraiture and includes an audio tour with rich visual descriptions of portraits featured in the museum’s signature exhibition, “America’s Presidents.” A full catalog of the Portrait Gallery’s collection of more than 23,000 works, including more than 6,000 works recently made available through Open Access, can be searched online at npg.si.edu/theportraits.

National Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery tells the multifaceted story of the United States through the individuals who have shaped American culture. Spanning the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists, whose lives tell the American story.

The National Portrait Gallery is part of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture at Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Connect with the museum at npg.si.edu, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.