Sidedoor: Art & Design | Smithsonian Institution

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Purple background with illustrated coins floating around.

Sidedoor Podcast

Face Value

Follow the money to see behind-the-scenes in the process of minting twenty new quarters featuring American women from history.

Spooky ilustration of a long-haired, dark figure behind a valentine.

Sidedoor Podcast

Til Death Do Us Part?

Listen to some of Japanese theater’s most popular tales of scorned lovers seeking vengeance from beyond the grave.

Illustration of an open book with a variety of black silhouettes.

Sidedoor Podcast

The Toxic Book of Faces

Explore the history of portraiture in America and a poisonous mystery.

Illustration of men riding horses in the water in a monsoon.

Sidedoor Podcast

Monsoon Mood

We think of paintings as art, but they can also help us understand today's changing climate.

Illustration of Augusta Savage sculpting a bust

Sidedoor Podcast

The Monumental Imagination of Augusta Savage

This Harlem Renaissance sculptor has been called one of the most influential artists of the 21st century.

diverse emoji people holding hands

Sidedoor Podcast

Love in the Time of Emoji

Learn how one groundbreaking emoji is changing digital representation and the future of museum collections.

Dorothy Liebes with colorful fabric swatches

Sidedoor Podcast

Dynamo Dot

Liebes spun luxury fabrics so bold and colorful that their style could only be described as the "Liebes Look."

Sumo wrestler and firefighter face off

Sidedoor Podcast

Sumo Wrestlers vs. Firefighters

In 19th-century Japan, two sumo wrestlers faced down dozens of firefighters in an epic brawl. But the story of what really happened isn't so simple.

raven sculpture

Sidedoor Podcast

Raven and the Box of Daylight

Hear the origin story of the Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest passed down since time immemorial.

illustration of camp with mountains in the back

Sidedoor Podcast

Chiura Obata's Glorious Struggle

Learn from Chiura Obata about the power of art in tumultuous times.

torch on the National Mall

Sidedoor Podcast

Light of Freedom

Artist Abigail DeVille has reimagined the Statue of Liberty’s torch to shine a light on historical contradictions of American freedom.

LeRoy Neiman illustration

Sidedoor Podcast

The Artist Critics Love to Hate

His paintings, sketches, and prints papered the second half of the 20th century, highlighting American icons in his colorful expressionist style.

Cleopatra statue.

Sidedoor Podcast

Finding Cleopatra

The first sculptor of African American and Native American descent to achieve international fame, Edmonia Lewis debuted on a U.S. stamp in 2022.

First Ladies in the collections.

Sidedoor Podcast

The Woman in the Frame

National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet discusses four First Ladies and their portraits.

Episode collage.

Sidedoor Podcast

Memory, Myths, & Miniatures

Artist David Levinthal uses toys to recreate iconic moments, encouraging his audience to question America’s collective memory.

Aloha, Y'all

Sidedoor Podcast

Aloha, Y'all

Learn how the steel guitar helped Hawaiians preserve their culture and change American popular music.

Good as Gold

Sidedoor Podcast

Good as Gold

Glittering treasures, gleaming coins, and eye-catching jewelry…gold can be all of these things, but in some parts of the world it's also an enduring link to the past.

low rider

Sidedoor Podcast

Cheech Marin Gets Artsy

Marin is our guide to the wildly creative and ingenious world of rasquachismo.

Muybridge motion horses

Sidedoor Podcast

Inventor, Photographer ... Murderer

Meet Eadweard Muybridge, a pioneering and eccentric photographer from the 1800s whose work paved the way for the invention of motion pictures.

Frank Holiday

Sidedoor Podcast

This Color Is Who I Am

Sidedoor takes a look at America's early HIV/AIDS crisis through the eyes of an artist whose life and work were changed by it forever.

artist

Sidedoor Podcast

Painting Michelle Obama

Journey to Amy Sherald's studio to hear exactly how she captured the spirit of Michelle Obama in paint on canvas.

Sidedoor Podcast

Murder Is Her Hobby

Frances Glessner Lee revolutionized the male-dominated world of crime scene investigation in the 19th century.

graphic illustration of Ai Weiwei

Sidedoor Podcast

Artist in Dissidence

Examining Ai Weiwei’s controversial career, and how he uses art to rally against political and social injustice.

episode 5

Sidedoor Podcast

Live! Unintended Consequences

Learn tales of small things that snowballed and had outsized impacts on history, art, and culture.

soldier with a camera

Sidedoor Podcast

The Art of War

In this episode of Sidedoor, listen to stories of artists whose work has helped reveal the human side of war.

episode 1

Sidedoor Podcast

Shake It Up

A grab bag of stories from the Smithsonian Sidedoor team.

illustration post office sign and train.

Sidedoor Podcast

Gaming the System

A grab bag of stories from the Smithsonian Sidedoor team.

Illustration of computer motherboard and outline of a head.

Sidedoor Podcast

Tech Yourself

A grab bag of stories from the Smithsonian Sidedoor team.

Sidedoor

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