Smithsonian Institution Building (Washington, D.C.) Search this
Type:
Mixed archival materials
Place:
Lafayette Park (Washington, D.C.)
Date:
1973
1973-
Category:
Agency History
Notes:
This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
Guide to the Smithsonian Archives 1996
Who's Who in American Art, 1995-1996
LinkedIn, Jane Milosch, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-milosch-n%C3%A9e-mckinstry-8050934/, accessed November 30, 2022
LinkedIn, Nicholas R. Bell, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-r-bell-6157b673/, accessed November 28, 2022
LinkedIn, Abraham Thomas, https://www.linkedin.com/in/abraham-thomas-982857111/, accessed November 28, 2022
LinkedIn, Robyn Kennedy, https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-kennedy-68822b32/, accessed November 28, 2022
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Press Release, "Nora Atkinson Named Curator-in-Charge for the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery," July 25, 2019, https://americanart.si.edu/press/2019/24/nora-atkinson-named-curator-charge-smithsonian-american-art-museums-renwick-gallery, accessed November 28, 2022
LinkedIn, Nora Atkinson, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nora-atkinson-bb13787/, accessed November 28, 2022
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery Architectural History, https://americanart.si.edu/about/history/renwick-architecture, accessed November 28, 2022
The Renwick Gallery is the curatorial branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum responsible for the presentation of American crafts and design in the Renwick Gallery Building. The building was originally designed to house the art collection of William Wilson Corcoran, a nineteenth-century native of Washington and a prominent banker, philanthropist, and art collector. Corcoran felt that the fledgling United States needed distinct achievements in the realm of arts and culture, as much as in industry and trade, if it was to become one of the great nations of the world. To that end in 1858 Corcoran engaged the noted architect James Renwick Jr., who had earlier designed the Smithsonian Institution Building (Smithsonian Castle) to design a public museum in which to display his collection of American art. The construction of the Renwick building marked an important moment in the cultural history of the United States, as it was the first time a building had been designed expressly as an art museum.
In 1899 the United States Court of Claims took over the building after Corcoran's collection had been relocated to a larger building. By the 1950s Congress proposed that the increasingly dilapidated building be razed as part of its plan to construct new and larger government buildings. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy successfully led a campaign in 1962 to save the Renwick Gallery as part of her plan to restore Lafayette Park and to preserve its historic treasures. She proposed alternative uses for the building, including using it as a museum; plans for the demolition of the Renwick building were eventually halted, due largely to her efforts.
In 1965, then Secretary of the Smithsonian, S. Dillon Ripley, met with Presdient Lyndon B, .Johnson to request that the Renwick building be turned over to the Smithsonian. The Renwick Gallery opened on January 28, 1972 and was named in honor of its architect. Its staff has included Lloyd E. Herman, Director, 1971-1986; Michael W. Monroe, Curator-in-Charge, 1986-1995; Kenneth R. Trapp, Curator-in-Charge, 1995-2003; Jane Milosch, Chief Curator, 2004-2008; Nicholas R. Bell, Curatorial Associate, 2008-2009, Curator, 2009-2011, Senior Curator, 2011-2015, Curator-in-Charge, 2015-2016; Abraham Thomas, Curator-in-Charge, 2016-2018; Nora Atkinson, Curator of Craft, 2014-2019, Acting Curator-in-Charge, 2019, Curator-in-Charge, 2019- ; and Robyn Kennedy, Chief Administrator, 2003- .
For a history of the larger creating unit, refer to "Forms part of above.
Repository Loc.:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
